Irgos took a large sip from the water bottle.

Finally, water. Now just some food.

“Should I refill it for tonight?” asked his sister, who lay sprawled on her sleeping bag. She was playing with the cord of the ‘super goggles’ she’d found in one of the drawers of the bedroom desk: two long, heavy tubes with thick glass that could magnify distant objects when you looked through them.

“Go ahead,” he replied. “Then we’ll definitely have enough to drink. I’ll come with you, though. I really don’t want to stay here alone.”

They walked out of the cabin, heading toward the lake.

Irgos thought back to their hike that afternoon. Ever since they’d left Tusin, they’d walked non-stop, mostly along tree-covered roads. But by late afternoon, they’d come across the same wide road as the night before. It was about a three-hour walk from there to where they were now—a small farmhouse on the outskirts of Ebrotown.

You could already see the village over the fields. They’d decided to spend the night here and explore Ebrotown for food tomorrow.

Sigh. Food.

It wasn’t easy to walk on an empty stomach, especially when you were used to eating well every day back in Overmore. But today, they were focused on getting as far away from their home place as possible. They didn’t want to waste time on food, only on resting and sleeping.

Beyond a few barren fields lay a small lagoon surrounded by some vegetation. As Arada crouched down to refill the water bottle, Irgos gazed off into the distance.

The setting sun cast long shadows of scattered trees across the grasslands. The sky was filled with the familiar glow of evening. The weather seemed to be the exact opposite of yesterday.

Irgos still couldn’t believe they had spent twenty-four hours in the Old World already.

When the bottle was full and they were heading back toward their shelter, she checked in on him.

“You okay?”

Irgos nodded, though it was short and tense.

“Make sure to rest well tonight,” she encouraged him. “We need the energy.”

Irgos knew she was right, but he’d found it hard to sleep last night.

A new question surfaced in his mind. “One thing I don’t get. H-how can you stay so... uhm...” He searched for the words. “...calm, cool-headed... sharp? After everything we’ve been through. What’s your secret?”

A cautious smile appeared on her thin lips. “Two secrets, maybe,” she began. “First, I want revenge on the man who killed my father.” Her smile disappeared, replaced by narrowed eyes and a frown. “Second, it’s our duty to reach Aquinox. We have to find the one with the other amulet. And I want answers.”

They returned to the cabin. It wasn’t much bigger than the average living blocks in Overmore, with many similarities. Irgos recognized the two rooms as a living room and a bedroom. In the living room, he saw a lot of familiar furniture from Overmore: to the left of the front door stood a worn-out armchair and leather sofa—both pitch black—rotting with age. But there were also things he’d never seen before. In the seating area, a shiny, black, thin screen hung on the wall, clearly some kind of Old World artifact. In the back of the room was a high table with various cabinets and strange machines with buttons, which could be pressed but did nothing. The only familiar object was something resembling the stove from Overmore’s kitchens. Was this how people made food in the Old World?

On the right side was a door leading to the bedroom. In the corner was a brown, made-up bed that had become Irgos’s sleeping spot since Arada preferred to try out the sleeping bag. Back in Overmore, she also slept better with her mattress as close to the ground as possible.

Across from the bed was a wide, slightly lighter brown desk with a mysterious object: it had the shape of an upside-down L with some kind of glass pear. Next to the bed stood a large, black wardrobe full of clothes.

Good thing it’s summer, thought Irgos. Otherwise, we’d really need those.

He flopped onto the bed. Arada slipped into her sleeping bag next to him. The last rays of the sun crept in through the window.

A strange rumbling from Arada’s stomach broke the silence.

“Sorry,” she said innocently. “My body isn’t made of iron.”

Irgos’s stomach seemed ready to chime in, too. “I really can’t sleep like this.”

“Just try. If you can’t fall asleep, at least rest well. Then we can keep going tomorrow.”

He nodded. It was a strange feeling, being tired yet unable to sleep.

Is it from not eating? The impressions of the new Old World? The stress of a murderous gang on our heels?

Or maybe all of it?

Just like yesterday, Arada was out like a light. He tried his best to relax and follow her example.

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But it just wasn’t working.

The longer he lay there, the busier his mind became. The past twenty-four hours buzzed around like mosquitoes around his head. He could still hear the Master’s voice echoing in his mind.

Isn’t it nice to enjoy yourself before everything goes down?

I could sense another presence. There are two of them.

Wait a second.

Irgos’s heart pounded in his chest when he thought back to the particular sentence he’d said.

The Master can ‘sense’ people?

He was overwhelmed by an invisible hand squeezing his throat. His mind raced.

If he’s so eager to catch us and can sense where people are, why hasn’t he caught up to us?

Something didn’t add up.

Irgos turned on his side, looking straight at the sleeping Arada. In the dim light through the window, her fair, freckled face looked a bit gray. But her red hair, spread over her purple ‘jacket pillow,’ always kept its color, no matter the light. Her breathing was steady. So steady, it even calmed him.

Maybe I’m just overthinking.

He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep with the thought of lying beside her.

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* * *

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In vain.

It was already getting light outside, but Irgos hadn’t closed his eyes once. Next to him, Arada was still lying in the same position as last night. At least she could do it.

Let’s try one more time.

He focused on the sounds he heard. His breathing and that of his sister. The faint rustle of a soft breeze. The creaks of the wooden cabin. The chirping of birds. Footsteps through the grass.

Footsteps?

At that exact moment, a shadow flew past the window and then disappeared. He shot up instantly, his heartbeat doubling.

We’re in trouble.

He crouched next to his sister and began gently shaking her.

“Sis. Psst, Sis.”

One by one, she opened her eyes. “Huh?”

“I hear something. Someone’s sneaking around the house.”

She was instantly awake. She took the knife from her backpack and gripped it tightly.

“How many of them?” she whispered.

“I don’t know.” Irgos held his hand to his mouth to keep as quiet as possible. “I only heard one.”

“You’re sure you didn’t imagine it?”

“Positive.”

She hesitated for a moment. “Stay here,” she gestured to the room. “I want to know where they're at.”

Carefully, without making a sound, she opened the door just enough to slip through.

She moved into the other room. Irgos pressed himself against the wall to stay out of sight of the window.

He waited and waited. The rush of adrenaline stretched time. But the silence worried him most.

After waiting for about ten minutes—his rough estimate—he couldn’t stand it any longer. He followed in her footsteps and cautiously peeked into the other room.

No one. Only the outer door was ajar.

He walked into the living room, moving as quietly as possible toward the door.

Suddenly, the sound returned. It was unmistakably the sound of someone running through the grass. The periodic rustling, followed by short pauses. Getting faster and louder.

Sweat covered his forehead. Arada doesn’t run like that, he thought.

Then he realized the unusual way of running. This wasn’t a human, but—

At that moment, the outer door burst open, and the creature lunged at him. It was so fast that Irgos didn’t even have time to look at the intruder. Long claws pushed him to the ground, and he felt prickly long tendrils brush against his face. A second later, there was the sound of footsteps on the floor, followed by a soft thud from the side, and his attacker rolled off him.

A panting Arada stood next to him. In her right hand, she held the knife, dripping with a sticky, reddish-brown liquid. Only now did he understand what she had done.

To his left lay the lifeless jelly monster in a pool of that same red liquid, slowly spreading from a large wound in its neck. It had a human-like body, but with much thinner limbs. Its skin had an unnatural color: a mix of brown, fluorescent green, and a hint of turquoise. The hands and feet had only two or three long, clawed fingers. But the head was a different story entirely.

There were no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth. In place of a face was a gaping void, where millions of long, thin black tendrils writhed and twisted. The back of the head was bald, replaced by scaly lumps, bumps, and protrusions.

Irgos shuddered. It had been a long time since he had last seen one of these monsters.

“Back inside,” Arada urged. “I don’t know how many more there are.”

They returned to the bedroom and barricaded the door with the desk. Then they stayed silent for at least five minutes, listening for any more signs of intruders.

“I shouldn’t have arrived a second later,” Arada said with relief, once she felt sure they were safe. But her expression changed when she looked at him.

She winced. “It got you,” she said, somewhere between shock and sadness.

Only then did Irgos realize he tasted blood. He turned to look at his reflection in the window. Between his nose and upper lip ran a long, horizontal red streak. Blood was still trickling down, dripping over his lips.

“Those tendrils,” Arada said, concerned. “It must have happened when it fell on you.” She opened the wardrobe and found a handkerchief.

“Let me take a look,” she said, turning him around by his shoulder. Irgos sat on the bed, and his sister crouched beside him. She dabbed the handkerchief under his nose, holding it long enough to stop the bleeding. When she finished, Irgos looked at his reflection in the window again. The bleeding had stopped, but the jelly monster had left a strange red streak across his face.

“Good thing I was on time. Who knows what could’ve happened to you,” she said more to herself than to him.

Irgos searched for words but couldn’t say anything.

“I...I thought something had happened to you,” he finally said. “Why did you take so long?”

“I couldn’t find the intruder,” she replied. “I walked around the cabin several times, but I didn’t come across anyone. At first, I didn’t realize it was a jelly monster. Not until I heard its sprint. That’s when I knew it must’ve smelled you, so I went after it.” She paused. “I really thought I was too late when I saw it lying on you. I didn’t hesitate for a second before striking.”

Irgos forced a pained smile.

“We should get going. I have no idea how many jelly monsters live around here.”