The morning of Dev’s ninth day on the island, he woke up again with his head feeling full of cotton. His mind was filled with snippets of dreams, detailing alien lives in alien worlds.
“Up and out, everyone! Anyone who isn’t up gets left behind! Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up.”
Dev groaned as he climbed out of his tent, Will clearly had too much fun with this.
He quickly rolled up and folded his tent. He needed to leave at the same time as the group if he was to make it to the edge of the island in time for the next convergence.
Looking around, he found June and claimed his last meal. “I’m going today. Good luck with keeping this lot in line.”
She smiled tiredly at him. “I’ll be fine. Worry about yourself.”
He quickly scarfed down the leftover snake from the night before.
As Will and the group left, he went to say his last goodbye. “Hey, man. Good luck out here. It looks like it’s time for me to go.”
“Good luck. Come back and visit us if you can.”
“Sure.”
With that, Dev walked off into the north of the desert.
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As the flash of light overcame him, Tae suddenly found himself walking in a great desert at night. How did I get here?
His head was fuzzy, so he looked around, only seeing an endless trail of footprints behind him, illuminated by the light of countless moons. He was covered in sand and aching. He’d clearly been walking for a long time. He shivered, but not from the chill of the night air.
After a few minutes of backtracking, there wasn’t an end in sight, so he instead continued in the same direction, stopping only when he encountered the edge of the world.
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Dev didn’t remember arriving at the edge of the island, but it was already an hour after sunrise, and four hours before the next island was to arrive.
“Uueghhh,” Dev groaned as he settled down to wait. His brain felt like it was made of pudding, and his bones felt like they were made of the same sand as the desert around him.
It had all started four days ago, in the Temple of the Dreaming Prince. He had spent every day since then in a constant state of sensory overload, almost drowning in the world’s essence. Truthfully, his decision to leave the group was less a desire for something different, and more an attempt to not show how feeble he was.
If I can’t find something soon, I might just need to forfeit so I can get medical attention.
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The king’s visage faded out of Elluvian’s vision, and the next thing he was aware of, he was sitting on top of a sand dune at the edge of a vast, scalding desert. The bright rays stabbed his eyes, making him wince.
What happened to me?
He looked around the oversaturated world, seeing a long trail of footprints leading out of the desert. He turned the other direction, and saw a great mass of life approaching the edge of the desert.
As it approached, a great, rainbow bridge formed, a mass of light humming with more power than Elluvian had seen in his life.
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Calmly, Elluvian crossed the bridge, approaching the land beyond the bridge. Anything is better than this desolate, lifeless place.
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At some point, Dev had arrived in a swamp. He didn’t know if he remembered arriving. His head was filled with a neverending buzz, louder and louder. He made his way forward, skirting through the underbrush. Looking around, he didn’t see the edge of the island.
Dev couldn’t find a path he had been following, nor any indicator of his goal coming here. He continued in a direction that felt familiar, hoping he would find something that would help him.
The ground squished beneath his feet.
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Justin felt the car twist, heard a nasty snap, and found himself in a swamp.
Was I drugged? The thought flowed through his mind like thick molasses, and he looked around the swamp. Sunset was approaching, turning the sky a crimson hue. Were there more moons than usual?
He shook his head, causing the world around him to spin. When things calmed down, he took out his backpack, going through it for camping supplies. He had not enjoyed the last time he was unprotected in a swamp after dark.
Where is—
Justin pulled out an unfamiliar model of tent, quickly setting it up. Bug o’clock was one of his least favorite memories from Boy Scouts.
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Tae woke up to an unfamiliar cloth ceiling, surrounded by a buzz of living creatures. Crawling out of the tent, he was greeted by the sight of a swamp illuminated by a milky sunrise, mud and thick plants going as far as he could see..
His stomach growled at him, but he had no answer for it. The tent was empty of food, and he knew nothing of wild plants.
Everything seemed as if he was weighed down with the weight of a thousand starships, the entire world suffused with an uneasy glow.
Tae packed the tent, messily shoving it into the backpack he had found inside. Turning, he walked in the direction of the sunrise, hoping for a swift return to civilization.
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Dev walked for hours on end. Every few minutes, the sun would change direction. Was he walking in circles?
He stumbled, tripping over an unseen branch and catching himself with his hands. Looking at them, he had caught himself many times. His hands were raw and bloodied. Why do I keep walking?
He stopped.
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Elluvian had paused briefly after entering the swamp. He continued his journey, moving towards the thickest source of life.
He grimaced as he felt his clothes squelching as he moved. He didn’t remember falling in the mud, but it had clearly happened.
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Dev didn’t know when he’d started walking again, but he was at an unknown edge of the island. There were still no signs of inheritance.
Maybe I should throw myself off the edge. They’d rescue me. Fix whatever’s wrong.
Steeling himself, Dev turned his back to the edge. He could handle himself. One more try.
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Justin’s hands stung when he found himself stopped for the evening. He reached to his bag for his water bottle to clean them, then took it off as he couldn’t find them.
Opening the bag, he found the tent had been stuffed inside messily. Straining his already strained mind, Justin couldn’t remember putting it there or having hurt his hands.
Underneath the tent was the water bottle. He quickly emptied half of it out over his hands, hoping to prevent infections. He drank the other half, then stored the bottle back in the bag. It could be helpful if he found clean water.
Justin set up the crumpled tent.
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Dev was in an unknown campsite. He had his tent set up already and was surrounded by the drone of insects.
Crawling inside, he drank his fill of the water bottle, before drifting off to sleep.
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Justin woke up in the tent, with no memory of falling asleep. He quickly packed it up, turning north.
He hiked for over an hour, but couldn't find any signs of civilization.
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Tae found himself heading off course and corrected himself back to the east. He felt increasingly unsteady, his mind like a book constantly being edited.
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Dev’s head was hurting.
Justin’s head was hurting.
Elluvian’s head was hurting.
Tae’s head was hurting.
Dev’s head—his foot slipped straight through the ground. None of them even noticed.