They left Bastion, trailing blood. Some part of Nicos wanted to feel horrified at the corpses Eurya had left in her wake, but the rest of him, the majority of him, only felt... apathy. The city had disgusted him. Its people, its practices, the callous disregard for everything honorable and right.

The slavery was just a putrid topping on the mountain of refuse that was Bastion. Its stink was almost unnoticeable against the fetid backdrop of amorality that infested everything. Even the boy's best efforts at making a difference, meager as they were, felt almost pointless. So futile as to be almost a detriment. Just a boy with a shovel, trying to dig a path through a mountain range.

He lacked the strength, the knowledge, the wisdom to do anything of value. It made him almost miss the sheer authority of the All-King, the order that it brought, and that thought only made him angrier. It was a spiral of frustration and self-recrimination that would have never ended, so long as he remained in the city, and Nicos was—

Well, Nicos was glad to be gone.

The path leading away from the city was modestly traveled. Bastion, for all its infamy and lawlessness, still required some level of trade to maintain itself. Merchant caravans trundled along the dirt path, guards warily eyeing the boy and his companions as they passed. He imagined that their expressions would likely change upon entering the city, after finding the mess that Eurya had left just inside the walls.

Nicos and his teachers continued their journey, walking at an easy pace. The land here was more brown than beige. Trees dotted the landscape, and Nicos could see fields in the distance, growing rows of fruits and vegetables. Unlike creatures, plants drew their sustenance from the world itself. Their Memory was almost always strong, and filling, and the fruit they produced carried the same qualities.

These farms were surrounded by towering fences, peppered with spikes and barbs. Such sights were rare in the Barrens; Nicos knew of farms, but had never seen a harvest. Farathun grew its crops beside oases, under the All-King's control. Those precious plots were heavily guarded, and not open for public viewing.

Here, the farms were proudly displayed. Security was heavy, and the fences were thick, but the land itself served as an advertisement for labor. Hard workers were in short supply near Bastion. Honest ones, even more so. The food supply was one of the few places considered sacred to these people, and attacks on farms were met with overwhelming swiftness and unrelenting brutality.

Food plots always needed workers. They offered safety, shelter, and steady meals. There was no better way to project that fact, than to openly flaunt their produce. Livestock, too, roamed the surroundings. Cattle, horses, and half a dozen different types of four-legged creatures that the boy could not even begin to guess the names of. Birds too, with clipped feathers and fat breasts, waddled along pecking at the ground. These creatures lived brief lives of monotony. Their meat was not filling, lacking the Memory of a wild predator. But they were docile, extremely tasty, and in great enough quantities, could serve as a meal.

'Soft meat,' his father had called it. Meant to satisfy a decadent craving, rather than offer any real sustenance. Hunting parties were the most efficient way of acquiring food. A single, old, successful predator could feed a small community for weeks. There was no reasonable way to raise those in captivity. The very nature of domestication prevented it. There was little strength to be gained while under the shelter of another.

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That was why Nicos had been left to traverse the desert on his own.

Eurya noticed the boy eyeing the distant animals as they passed by. "Welcome to the land of plenty," she said.

The further they went, the darker the dirt, the thicker the trees, the greener the surroundings. They crested a hill covered in grass almost as thick and hearty as that of the boy's meadow, and found themselves gazing upon a sea of emerald leaves. Trees as far as the eye could see, towering over the landscape. Bushes and brush, vines and flowers, Nicos had never seen a land so alive.

"The Infinite Forest," he whispered. "How is it here?"

The Infinite Forest lay at the southern edge of the world. It acted as one of the four walls of existence, just as the Great Empty warded the east and the corpse of the Everdragon barricaded the west. These barriers prevented mortals from stepping off the edge of the world, and falling into the endless black of the Beyond. The Forest was unique among its peers in that, rather than a solid blockade, it seemed to simply extend forever. Nicos could not understand how he had stumbled upon it here, so far to the east.

Eurya barked out a laugh, rustling her hand through his hair affectionately. "This is not the Infinite Forest, boy. Be thankful for that. She dislikes visitors."

Nicos head snapped in her direction. His mouth open, then he paused, and glanced back to the scenery. Green greeted him, more than he had ever seen in his life. He turned back to his teacher.

"Are you sure?"

"Quite sure." The Keeper slid up beside the boy, amusement in his tone. "This is just a forest. It does not even have a name. This region, however, is called The Fertile Lands." The blind man gestured at the shimmering ocean of leaves. "For obvious reasons."

"It's beautiful," Nicos murmured, struck by an almost reverent awe.

Eurya laughed again, a tinkling, joyful noise. "You ain't seen nothing yet, Nicos. Come."

Together, they entered the forest. The boy was suddenly assaulted by noises of all varieties. A constant, rhythmic chirping. Occasional shrieks in the distance. Animal calls, birdsong; things he recognized in theory, but had never experienced himself. He was used to howling, or keening, the rage filled calls of the Red Barrens. Bloodthirsty monsters, hiding in darkness, mindlessly seeking strength.

The forest teemed with life. There was violence, certainly, but also peace. Existence was more than an endless cycle of hunger and sleep. Tiny, furry creatures flitted along the tree branches, playfully wrestling with each other. Birds, colorful, bright and vivid, perched on branches and sang a tune of joy and life. Insects, in more varieties than Nicos was capable of imagining, buzzed through the distant grass, their instincts directing them to keep a wide berth from the boy and his enormously dangerous companions.

The group moved in silence, more than content to bask in the liveliness of the forest. It was over an hour before the boy came out of his daze. His mind had wandered back to the entrance of the forest, and his teacher's words echoed in his mind.

"She?" he asked, the first noise he had made since entering the forest.

Eurya merely glanced at him, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"We were talking about The Infinite Forest." Nicos reminded her, flushing slightly. He had just referenced an old conversation without any kind of lead-up. Her confusion was more than warranted. "You said she disliked visitors. Who is 'she'?"

"Ah." Eurya nodded and hummed. Her eyes flicked to Nicos and she smirked. "The titan, of course."

"The Infinite Forest has a titan?" Nicos asked, flabbergasted by this news. He knew little about the almost god-like beings, save that they were exceedingly rare. That one guarded the entrance to the end of the world was... actually quite fitting, now that he had a moment to think about it.

Eurya nodded again, more thoughtfully this time. "I suppose now is as fine a time as any to discuss the nature of gods and titans," she said, as if imparting such knowledge was a tedious task, barely worth her time.

Nicos, trepidation warring with anticipation, waited patiently for his teacher to once again upend his view of the world.

Eurya spoke to the boy, and the mysteries of creation unveiled themselves before him.