Keeper waved her arms furiously.

"Listen, you've helped me with this awakening deal, and for that I'm thankful. But I know there must be a way back home. Eater's box is proof of it." I crawled up the steep crater, trying to pull myself on Keeper's sheers. "Could you give me a push?"

Without help, I heaved my chest onto the handles and peeked through one of them. The girl glared at me with arms crossed. "You know," I said, "you almost don't look so upset with one eye covered."

She threw her hands in the air again, clearly distraught.

I finally brought my whole body up onto the sheers. They were so stable that my entire weight didn't even bend them a hair's width. If I had a pair of Claws made from this stuff, I'd be set.

I reached for the edge of the crater, and hauled my body over the lip. While I was bringing my last limb onto solid ground, Keeper hopped up in front of me, reached down, and pulled her weapon from the wall. She did it in about the time it took me to stand to my feet.

Before I could even pretend to be jealous, the view from the top of the crater caught my eye. The size of the hole made it clear how much energy I must have released. I'd heard of large scale alchemical explosions before, the type they used for fireworks, but no one had ever described them as capable of digging a hole as deep as it was wide.

Most of the ruins had vanished to dust, there were only a few walls in the distance still standing, and part of the forest was missing a chunk too. Still, nothing compared to the depth of the thing. It looked as if a cannonball were scaled up a hundred times its regular size and dropped into the earth.

Keeper hit me over the back of the head.

"Ow! What in the world was that for?"

She made a circle with her hand and placed it over the eye that wasn't patched up, analyzing the crater through it.

"Are you mocking me for looking at a crater?" I asked.

She dismissed my concern again, flapping her hand back and forth. I could almost feel myself growling. "Never mind, which way to the closest town?" I asked. Keeper only stared back at me blankly. "There are towns here, aren't there? Gatherings where people live?"

The last description I offered seemed to clue her into what I was talking about. Instead of pointing out the direction though, she brought her hand to her chin and feigned deep thought.

"Oh whatever, I'll just pick a direction and walk." But before I could take a step, Keeper jumped in front of me and pointed to the path where we'd come from, offering a meek grin.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" I asked, and Keeper nodded enthusiastically.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, there was a good chance of necessary backtracking to get to this supposed town.

An old phrase my mentor used to repeat came to mind. Solutions are like snakes. The men who wander the glade, unknowing, are bitten and poisoned with the sweet taste of ignorance. Those who carefully watch their steps will notice the slithering truth. Always remain vigilant.

Even though I was taught it for staying undercover, I was also told to trust when my mind brought advice into seemingly unrelated predicaments. There must be a way to check Keeper's lie.

I took a deep breath and suddenly felt my tongue dry and heavy in my mouth. I might be able to think better with a drink of—

"Oh!" I accidentally vocalized my breakthrough. Keeper had been tugging on my cloak while I was stuck in thought, her brow bore a hint of confusion. I looked behind us. "Are there any rivers in… well, The Realm?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"Would you mind taking me to one?" I asked. "The berries, they quenched my hunger but… I haven't had anything to drink since I got here."

Eyeing me suspiciously, the girl stepped up to my face and forced her fingers in my mouth. I gagged reflexively and shoved her hand away. "Hello?! What are you doing?" I coughed and spat on the ground. The faint taste of dirt and berries lingered on my tongue.

She, of course, made no effort to answer and simply flicked her chin in a direction for me to follow. Then, she trotted off.

It took a thumb's width of minutes before the flowing sound of water came into earshot, the full trees did well to absorb any noise. For as fresh and green as it was, that dampening quality made these forests the more dangerous sort to travel through.

"It's safe to drink?" I asked once the bright teal stream came into view. She made an exaggerated gesture that I took as a yes.

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

It tasted as fresh as any I'd ever had the pleasure of drinking, so I filled the empty waterskin hooked at my waist and gave off a satisfied smile. "Well, thank you for the help," I said. "I'll be off now." And I started my way downstream.

Swift as a racehorse, Keeper blocked my path. She made a large cross with her forearms, then faked slitting her throat with her hand, tongue out and everything.

"Your reaction only confirms that following the current will take me to a town." I stepped around the small girl.

She rushed in front of me again and repeated the same actions, this time, more intensely.

"Look, I'm not falling for that. Worst case, I know how to deal with angry townsfolk. And if need be, running away is my specialty," I said, patting the girl's shoulder.

She finally rolled her eyes, stepping aside. That wasn't so hard.

The trek turned out to be more breathtaking than anything I'd seen thus far. In fact, the snaking river held my attention so closely that I hadn't realized Keeper was following me for a full hour. I noticed when I decided to wade across the river for a change of scenery; she'd made a fairly loud stumble on some loose stones. Other than that, you'd think her an expert tracker: footsteps quiet as a deer.

It wasn't until another hour or two into the hike when I noticed the abundant foliage start to thin. Only the occasional tree at first, uncharacteristically stripped of all its color, but after a while, half the trees stood empty. Before long, none of the forest had any green leftover and the long grass on the ground had dried up into sparse tufts.

Concern crept in, and I scanned around for any signs of Keeper. She was nowhere to be seen. "Keeper? Are you sure there's a town down this way?" There was no answer, not that she'd spoken today, but I assumed she would speak in the case of an emergency. I suppose she lost track of me.

As much as it hurt to turn tail and head back the way I'd come, some part of me suspected Keeper was aware this would happen. It's probably what her hand motions meant. Plants dead, no one lives down there.

I let out a deep sigh, but before I could even decide to begin my trip back, a familiar darkness began to set in. From the corner of my eye, a blurred shape rushed past. "Keeper!" I yelled into the rows of thin trees. "Was that you?"

No answer.

Footsteps sounded out from behind me and I spun around to catch another glimpse of a streaking shape. Soon, the light of day had completely disappeared and no more than a soft purple glow lit the forest.

Something splashed in the stream and I whipped around once more. A blurry, mist-like figure stood there, unmoving. Water sprayed erratically at the spot where it met the river, as if confused of where the creature's shape began and ended. My eyes struggled to find the thing's outline just as much as the flowing water did.

An eerie laughter echoed from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted another blur of shadow. I was surrounded. Deep breaths. Running away is your specialty, remember?

The shape in front of me suddenly surged across the water and the word instantly materialized in my mind: Escape. My feet jerked into action and I slipped against a loose layer of dirt, placing a hand on the ground to stop myself from falling. Both my feet nearly slid out from underneath me before my left sole caught against a solid piece of ground and lurched my body forwards into a sprint.

The thin spindly trees darted past me and the whistling of moving air rang loud against my ears. A cackling laughter bellowed from behind.

I resisted the sinister urge to check over my shoulder and kept my speed. I wanted to know how fast these things could run. Soon, one of the shapes burst out beside me, trying to get ahead. It wants me surrounded again—

The shape abruptly turned and lunged into my body, tackling me to the ground. My hip slammed against a rock and the creature wrapped it's vague presence around me. We rolled uncontrollably into the stream. This section wasn't so deep, so instead of drowning right away, I could still struggle to keep my head above water. "KEEPER!" I screamed out with as much volume as my lungs could muster, the creature compressing my chest and starving me of air. Is this how everything in this world fights?

A sharp pain sunk into my flank when I rolled once more. I thought it would be my stomach opening up to Consume the heavy shadow surrounding me, instead, it was a jagged rock jutting from the surface of the water, now plunged deep into my side. The pain stunned me for as long as it took to realize the creature had loosened its hold. The rock pierced it too.

Through the searing pain, I shoved my legs underneath my body and staggered to my feet. The shadow in the river sent the water in wild directions. A loud whistle sounded behind me and I ducked just in time for another blur of shadow to sail overhead, thrashing in the stream to regain its balance. I bit my tongue to distract from the pain in my flank and staggered into a wincing sprint.

"Keeper, I swear to the gods if you can hear me—I'll do your worthless training, I'll kill whatever you need me to just—HELP!" A warm liquid trickled down my side. I'm about to pass out.

But before I could collapse, an arm wrapped gently around my waist. A faint voice whispered in my ear. "Sorry, I lost you for a second there. Don't move." It was Keeper.

She laid me to the ground softly. I spun to warn her of the creatures when instead, I was met with the sight of her massive shears slicing the shape in half. Both sections of its body tumbled onto either side of me, and before I could make out what it looked like, clouded puffs of ash took their place; they slowly drifted to the ground.

I struggled to keep my eyes open. Soon, the warmth of my blood and Keeper's fluid motions guided me into a sound sleep.

----------------------------------------

The clinical smell of a surgeon's quarters roused me from my slumber. I was sat up in a bed, a mountain of pillows supporting my back and a mountain of blankets covering my body. I have got to stop losing consciousness.

The room was small, and almost assuredly home to a practitioner of medicine. Faintly tinted flasks lined the shelves, and miscellaneous tools were strewn across a table to my right. To my left, Keeper sat on a chair, leaning against her shears. Asleep.

A folded note sat on my lap, it simply read: This is the village of Stock. I promise to help you return to your world so long as you cooperate, generally. Your wound should heal soon, Watcher has stitched it well.

I heard a door open around the corner. The deep tonal humming of a happy man filled the room.