Public Release: Feb. 28th, 2019 - 5:00 pm EST

The horses whinnied and pulled back, rearing on their hind legs. Their front hooves kicked and flailed about like a swimming dog. The group stopped at a cliff edge. I kept holding the flaming Belial’s Blade up in the air, revealing the area around us. I could see the eyes following behind, just outside the edge of my torchlight.

“It’s a dead end!” One of the knights yelled.

“We need to turn back. There was a side passage about a hundred yards back big enough for the carriage!” said Sal, his voice like thunder in the dark.

The Tsavo were growing more and more daring. They were so fast it was hard to follow them, but I could keep them at bay with the light. My clawed eye was almost done regenerating, and once it finished I could probably keep everyone safe the rest of the way.

I kept trying to use [Mana Sense] to feel the beasts, but I kept drawing blanks. It was as if they didn’t even use Mana at all.

I wanted to curse. I wanted to hit something and break the rocks and stone around us. I wanted to cut down these Tsavo, but I couldn’t leave the carriage behind. If something happened to the knights, or worse to Sal or Lily, I’d never forgive myself.

I don’t know why, but I felt like those bastards from Barbory lead us to this nest on purpose. Fuck, I wished I had their maps. The cursory glances I was able to steal from them weren’t enough to piece together the proper routes.

The only thing I could do is try and keep everyone moving south. So long as we kept moving South we’d be going in the right direction.

-

Sal started leading our group down another tunnel. Thankfully there were no side passages, so I only needed to keep my eyes behind us to prevent another ambush. Every once in a while I’d see a paw flash into the light, or a grinning set of enamel shine.

These monsters were intelligent. They were waiting, watching me to see if I’d slip up. Unfortunately for them, I was way beyond their games. The moment the tunnel started to open up into another wider set of caverns, I turned Belial’s Blade against the ceiling.

Rocks thundered down from my slashes, and they filled the tunnels behind us. I heard the whines and cries of crushed Tsavo and I grinned, happy for their misfortune. They deserved it.

-

The caverns we ended up in looked like the underside of a plant-type dungeon, with a ceiling of roots and moss. I couldn’t quite tell which way was South, but I didn’t need to. Sal’s skill kept us moving. I wasn’t sure why he couldn’t seem to tell the right way on the first try.

“Calliope, my Skill isn’t working right,” said Sal, noticing my glances.

I nodded my head. “Do you know why?” I asked.

“It’s like something is interfering. Remember when we were surprised by the World Dragon?” He asked.

“Yes, of course.” Perhaps he didn’t realize just how important that Dragon’s memories were to me, right now.

“Well, it feels like that. Something is interfering.”

“Is it Nox?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “It feels kinda like… Maybe?”

We were getting nowhere. “Can you at least keep us pointed South?”

“Yes. Probably. I’m not sure.”

Fuck. We were fucked. We were so goddamn fucked.

Lost in The Pass, surrounded by invisible monsters that I couldn’t detect with [Mana Sense]... I grit my teeth. I felt a new resolve bubble up from within me. I knew I could get out of this situation and that I could probably bring Lily and Sal with me…

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I looked over at the escorts and maids. I hated myself for thinking so, but I decided at that moment that, if the need arose, I’d abandon them. I would keep my friends safe, first.

I think Sal noticed my resolve. He didn’t say anything, but he nodded at me. His support was enough, for me. It felt like, for the first time in a long time, I had some validation. I had made so many wrong decisions since I came to this world, it felt good that someone I trusted actually agreed with me.

Sal put his hand on my shoulder.

“We’ll get through this, Calliope,” he said. “We’ll heal Lily and we’ll punch Nox in the teeth for all of this shit.”

I smiled. I could reason that, since I was attacked by monsters poisoned with Nox’s aura earlier, that he was probably behind our fucking hell of a time in The Pass. It felt like someone was interfering with things, making things harder.

I wanted to kill him even more.

‘Soon,’ I reasoned to myself. I needed to keep my priorities straight. At this point I regretted not taking Lily by myself. I could have crossed the mountain range with her if we were alone…

Though I certainly wouldn't enjoy doing it. I’d have to take over all her maids’ jobs, involving some things that… Let’s just say, I’d be deeply embarrassed and wouldn’t be able to live it down.

-

The caverns were damp and quiet. Occasionally the sound of dripping water would echo. I couldn’t sense any monsters nearby, but I knew better than to trust my [Mana Sense] for everything, now.

Many of the knights and maids wanted to rest in this place, but I was nervous. We had just passed the Tsavo nests, and those creatures probably knew their way around The Pass better than us. They were probably using other paths to reach us right at this very moment…

“We should keep moving,” I said, my voice stronger than I felt.

My words were met with audible groans and a few cries of ‘demon’ and ‘slave driver’. Of course, they were just grumbles. Not many of the knights seemed to actually want to stick around this close to the Tsavo nest either.

-

The caves turned wider and wider still. I could hear the sound of moving water ahead. Roots twisted and turned through the area, forming a complex system of small paths and structures. In some places the roots themselves looked like trees in a forest, a microcosm of the forest and mountain high above.

I couldn’t find words to describe it. I looked up in awe. The tree roots crossing the ceiling had stones and gems embedded in them, and they shined like stars.

I tried using [Mana Sense] again, but still didn’t feel anything…

No. I was starting to feel something, but it wasn’t Mana. There was another energy on the air. I tried to put my thumb on it, but it kept eluding me. It felt like trying to catch a fish with my bare hands.

-

The carriage rolled on. The horses were exhausted and moving slow. The knights were moving slower. I, myself, could feel my own exhaustion getting to me. It had been several hours since we last saw the Tsavos, so I considered taking a rest.

I met Sal’s eyes and he seemed to share my sentiment. I wanted to ride in the carriage with Lily but I couldn’t afford to leave the watch to others.

I wasn’t sure if I could handle going the rest of the way without sleep, but I knew we couldn’t be that far from the other side of The Pass. We had been traveling South and our pace wasn’t slow. The distance we covered wasn’t a small one.

I forced myself to sit on top of the carriage. I kept my eyes moving and I watched the surroundings. I didn’t keep Belial’s Blade on fire because the mana expenditure, while small compared to my total, was starting to add up. We hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the Tsavo for a while now, so I assumed we could move on with only the torchlite from the small ones the knights carried.

-

Everything blurred. I felt good and I thought of all my favorite memories. I remembered the time Sal and I went to that anime expo. He dressed up as Skeletor, for some reason. He wore these big plastic fake muscles and it looked hilarious. I think I dressed up as a superhero of some kind… For the life of me I couldn’t remember which one.

My eyes snapped open. I had fallen asleep briefly. My breathing was labored and I looked around. Everything seemed peaceful. A few knights, like me, were up keeping watch. The rest were leaning against their horses or laying down on sleeping bags.

Sal, himself, was sleeping just behind the carriage. I winced when I looked at his injury, but it seemed to be healing. For some reason, from the wound, I could feel a strange aura. The more I sensed it, the stronger it seemed to be.

It was like Mana but it wasn’t Mana. It smelled familiar… It smelled like Nox, but it didn’t smell like Nox.

A new skill popped up on a familiar blue screen in front of me:

[-New Skill Acquired-

Master Class Skill: Detect Fae Energy]

Lights popped up in the surroundings like daisies. My eyes went wide as I finally sensed them, the Tsavo that were in the area around us. I jumped to my feet.

“Raise the alarm! We’re under attack!” I yelled and the men jumped up to their feet. Belial’s Blade flashed into my hand and I grinned.

I could finally sense them. I could finally see them. I could finally kill them all.

I didn’t need to worry about any of them sneaking past me and hurting the rest of the group. I'd be able to notice it in time, now.

Just as I stepped off the carriage towards the Tsavo, a new ‘Fae Energy’ popped up in my detection, this one was far away to the South… But the sheer size of it dwarfed anything I had ever sensed in my life. I choked on my own saliva and jerked to a stop.

I felt like I was looking at a beacon of light, rather than a quantity of strength or energy. I felt like I was looking at the end of the world itself. It was something apocalyptic; it was something beyond.

I knew it in the bottom of my heart. I was looking at my own death.