The Second Challenge

I finished the hyenas quickly, though not as quickly as I could’ve. Flying for so long had tired me out, and I could already feel the hunger rearing up its head.

Once I was done crushing the skull of the last beast, I turned to look at the shifter. He was a big one, the top of his head easily as tall as I was, and I was not a short person, not by human standards.

I could hear his lungs filling up and deflating, hear his heart beating faster and faster. I even heard his flesh stitching itself back together. I could also hear the two softer heartbeats inside.

He growled as I stepped closer, and I raised my arms, he barred his teeth at me and got lower to the ground.

It was only then that I realized that he might not know what I was, that he might think that I was just another monster.

“Hello, I don’t mean you or your children any harm,” I said slowly, trying to be reassuring.

I could see the confusion in his eyes, the distrust. I focused inward and triggered the change back. Saia shifted on my skin, adjusting as my wings retracted. We’ve had a long talk and figured a lot of things.

Once I was back to looking a bit more human, I gave the shifter a smile, after a bit I opened my mouth and showed fangs, letting him know for certain what I was.

“See,” I said as two small shifter shapes walked up to the entrance and peeked out from behind their parent’s legs. “I promise I’m a—” I paused as I was just about to say “a friend”. I couldn’t do that anymore, my words had weight. If I said that I was a friend, I would be obligated to act as one. I didn’t know the shifter or his children.

“I’m a survivor, just like you,” I said instead. “Can you shift back? So that we might talk easier?”

He looked at me, then stepped back, pushing his children inside. I didn’t quite understand his fear, though he must know that he had no chance against me. If I meant him harm, there was little he could do to stop me.

Still, I didn’t move as he ushered his children inside. A few minutes later, after a litany of soft growls and barks, I heard bones cracking and shifting.

Soon enough, a man walked out of the shack, holding a piece of what looked like table cloth around his waist. He was a tall man, with skin as dark as obsidian, his eyes were brown and somehow warm, he had a kind face.

I smiled at him. “Hello again,” I started. “I’m…”

I paused. Which name I used was important. It occurred to me in the moment that names had meaning, they held power. The more I grew, the more I accepted this world around me as the new reality, the more I started to think of myself as Star, according to my YoKai-ni name. Marianna was a different person, but also one that held meaning in this world, the Grand Spell had shown it to everyone, along with my true name.

Estrella was an Earth version of my true name, and perhaps one that I felt closest to, despite not using it often. It was useful for when I didn’t want to reveal too much.

Now, I should use the name that best reflected what I wanted to achieve. I wanted the person before me to trust me, but also to understand who I was.

“I’m Marianna Rojas,” I said slowly, watching him for any signs of recognition.

The man gave me a long look, but guarded his thoughts, then he inclined his head. “I’m Oluwatobi Musa,” he said in a soft tone of voice that didn’t quite match the mountain of the man that he was.

“Well met Oluwatobi,” I said. “I’m glad that I noticed your plight. I was just about to turn back when I saw this oasis and the pack of beasts.”

Oluwatobi deflated, as if he had finally allowed the reality of the situation to sink in. “The Mother provides,” he said, then continued before I could ask anything. “I apologize, it's been a long few months. The world turned mad, and it’s been a long time since I spoke with another. Especially not one, uh, like you, who can even speak Yoruba.” After a beat, he added, “Master.”

I grimaced. “Marianna is fine, I’m not like the vampires you hear about in stories,” I tried to put him at ease, but he was clearly distressed. “You said that you haven’t talked with anyone in a while? Since before the Grand Spell arrived, I assume?”

His brow furrowed. “Grand Spell?”

“The light that covered the world months ago. It changed our world, you may think of it like a god. It has transported our land to another world, merged all our continents into a single landmass. I’m not speaking Yoruba, I’m talking in my native tongue and you are hearing it in yours.”

Oluwatobi blinked, then his eyes lit up with hope. “You know what this is? When it happened, the light came and my wife was taken, do you know what happened to her? We lived in an oasis in the desert before, I’ve been searching for her ever since.”

His words turned frantic, almost tripping over one another.

I immediately knew what had happened to his wife. I just didn’t know how to tell him.

“Your wife, is likely an Exemplar,” I told him. “That means that she was chosen as one of thirty representatives of our world, to be sent to other continents on the world of Kirios, or the World of Origin as the Grand Spell calls it. I was an Exemplar too. She would’ve spent a month on another continent, and would then be transported back here, to the place she originally left from.”

His face fell. “Back to the… Oh, I abandoned her.”

I raised my hand before he could spiral. “You couldn’t have known, and that is… I’m sorry, but Kirios is dangerous, survival isn’t guaranteed.”

“I need to go back, to try and find her…” he glanced behind at his two children. He had probably struggled taking care of them.

“Even if she returned, she wouldn’t be there anymore, she will know what happened to Earth and will probably have a plan of action. Did you see that list of top Masked names? If she was an Exemplar, she would’ve probably been on it. What’s her name?”

Oluwatobi turned to look back at me, then he nodded. “I did,” he said. “Sade. Sade Musa. I just… I thought that I was hallucinating, I didn’t pay too much attention to it.”

As many others had thought too. I was certain that she didn’t enter the challenge, I would’ve remembered a female shifter, and her scent would’ve been similar to her children. I hadn’t encountered it before. But him not remembering was valid, I didn’t remember the one hundred names either.

“If she survived, she is back here. Did you have a home somewhere else? A place she might go to check?”

“Lagos,” he said slowly. “I tried to head there, but… the world is mad, as if the directions had suddenly switched sides, north wasn’t north anymore.”

I nodded. “Consequence of continental merging. I know, that you want to search for your wife, but it will be a dangerous trip, especially with children,” I paused, and he glanced at his kids, clearly knowing that I spoke the truth.

“I’m leading a group of more survivors, across the new inland sea. We have children there, come back with me, you can settle there. If you want to search for your wife, you can leave your children in a safe place, and have people help you.”

He looked at me, clearly struggling to make a decision. “A sea? How would we cross it, I…”

“I’ll call for a friend that can help carry you over,” I smiled. “The world’s changed, and we need to stick together if we are to survive. Come.”

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I called Saia, or rather she called her drone. It took her a bit longer to get to us as she couldn’t fly as fast as I could, but a few hours later a large silver dragon landed on the sand in front of the small shack.

Oluwatobi and his kids, Adanna and Ade, looked up at her with wide eyes. The two kids were still in their true forms, and were about as large as a medium-sized dogs. I didn’t know how old that would make them in human years, and I didn’t pry. Oluwatobi was already clearly distressed about his wife, thinking that he abandoned her.

“This is Saia, she’s my friend,” I introduced her.

“Statement: Greetings.”

Oluwatobi leaned back when he heard her talk, then looked at me with wide eyes.

“She’ll carry you back to our town,” I told him.

I let him process everything. I’ll never get tired of seeing people completely flabbergasted when they met Saia.

Finally he nodded, but his expression was completely bewildered. As if he couldn’t quite believe that this was all real. “Thank you,” he said finally.

“Can your children shift to their human forms? It might be easier for you to ride on top of her and hold on to them that way.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Uh,” Oluwatobi looked back at the kids. “Yes, they can, but… we have no clothes with us.”

He had already mentioned that he and his family had decided to live their lives in the wild, in their true forms. I knew that some shifters did that.

“I think that Saia can help with that,” I said, then tapped my chest. “This is her too.”

His confused look lead to me explaining what Saia actually was. I wasn’t sure if he understood it.

But, within a few minutes, the kids were back to looking like seven or eight year old human children, and were wearing thin skinsuits courtesy of Saia.

Just as they were about to mount Saia, the world vanished.

Everything was replaced by a gray void filled with mist. I could still see Oluwatobi and his children next to me, but all other features of the world were replaced.

Once more, we were in the Grand Spell’s realm.

The voice that was not a voice sounded, and words blazed in the air above us.

Denizens of Terra and Suul’dar, a New Challenge approaches.

The second challenge is near! The bottom 100 Masked will be brought to a new arena for the ultimate Grand Challenge.

In three days, each of the bottom 100 will be given a choice of being taken to the Grand Challenge or staying behind. The second of five Grand Challenges.

Personal and continental rewards will be granted.

The length of the second Challenge is one real time day, and five days personal time.

The list of the bottom 100 Masked is not yet final!

Oh no. Why? This wasn’t good, not at all. The bottom 100? The ones who had barely advanced their Masks? I knew who would be numbered amongst those the most.

And then a list flashed above us, with the names. I didn’t recognize any of them, but their Investment was poor, the highest had two carvings.

“Baba?” I turned as Oluwatobi’s daughter spoke, she was pointing at the list.

I looked, and found her name.

This was a disaster.

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Once we were back in real space, I ushered the shifters to get on Saia. Oluwatobi and the kids settled on top of her back, where she had shifted and created something akin to a saddle.

Then, we were rushing back.

I had foolishly assumed that the Challenges would always be among the top 100. But now… The Grand Spell’s goal was to uplift as many people, grant strength. According to its logic, giving an opportunity to the weak had to make sense. Yet, those who would be weakest on Earth, would be children. Or those who had somehow ended up in very safe areas where they didn’t need to fight, or who had no knowledge of how Masks worked.

I looked over the list while we were inside, looking for any name that I recognized and found none. Though I didn’t quite know the names of all the children in our town.

But, if there were any… I didn’t know what we would do. What kind of a challenge would this one even be.

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It took us a few hours to get back. We landed in one of the squares, people already there to meet us. They knew I was coming with guests as Saia’s drone had told them before leaving.

Catalina introduced herself, then quickly gathered the children and Oluwatobi, leading them to their new home. We still had unoccupied ones, and could easily take in double our current population.

I found myself in the Keep, in one of the meeting rooms, with Max, Diego, Kai, and Carlito.

“You had an interesting trip boss lady,” Carlito said.

I nodded. “I’m just glad I run in into a survivor, the world feels… empty.”

“He’s staying then?” Diego asked.

I glanced at him. “His wife was an Exemplar, at least I think so, she got taken when the Grand Spell arrived. He wants to go and find her, I’ve offered him a safe place for his children and help in looking for her.”

“You think that we can spare resources to look for her?” It was Max who asked the question.

“Yes,” I answered. “Another exemplar under our banner would be invaluable. And if we’ve already offered her children and husband safety, she would be more inclined to stay.”

“Assuming she’s still alive, and we find her,” Max added. “Are you going to go and search?”

I shook my head. “No, this challenge threw a wrench in my plans. I expected to join another and speak with my allies. Now, I’m going to go and try to find them.”

“The new Challenge,” Max started. “Thankfully, none of our kids are eligible. They’ve all advanced their Masks plenty. We’ve been helping them gain Investment and using them for more data points.”

I was relieved. I didn’t know what kind of decisions we could’ve made. “Oluwatobi’s daughter is on the list. She can refuse to go, of course, but that isn’t our decision to make.”

The others all nodded. “Let’s settle him in, then we’ll talk,” I added. “Now, anything new I should know?”

Diego cleared his throat. “The fishing boats have been coming back with full catches, it looks like we’ll be able to feed ourselves even without rifts.”

“That’s good.”

“And we’ve successfully refurbished the two sailing boats. We think that we can make use of them. Catalina also had the idea of making long oars, just in case wind isn’t fully on board. And with the increase in physical strength some of our Masked have gotten, it isn’t much of an issue.”

“That accelerates my plans,” I said.

I had found a few sailing boats in Cartagena’s port, though not all had survived. The two that I dragged to town were in the best conditions, and even they had to be worked on. All the electronics and metal parts had degraded, so they had to be pulled out. One of the yachts was a small luxury Catamaran yacht, with only a single sail, obviously it was not meant to be used without a motor, but we had little choice. It was large enough that two dozen people could be on it.

The other one was smaller than that one, with two smaller sails that were in good condition. That one could barely hold a dozen people.

My plan was to have them start heading east, along the coast, looking for more survivors, while I would head north and west, to look for Aurora.

Catalina entered the room, with Oluwatobi following behind her.

“What do you think?” I asked him.

“It is a nice town,” he said softly. “Is it true that this “Grand Spell” created it, that it was a reward from it?”

I nodded.

“I see,” he said, looking around at the walls.

We still didn’t have much in the way of furnishing. We’ve started using the lumberyard to source wood to make it.

“Your daughter,” I said, changing the topic. “If she goes—”

“—She won’t,” Oluwatobi cut me off.

I inclined my head. “It is your family, your decision. We don’t yet know what kind of a challenge it is going to be. If the other one hundred challengers end up being children, like her, then… she would have an advantage, she’s a shifter. Stronger, faster, more capable than humans of similar age, or even some adults, especially if their Masks aren’t advanced.”

“I don’t want her in danger, I’ve stressed it with her. I need her safe here while I go look for her mother.”

“As I said, it is your decision.”

After that, we turned the conversation to his wife, and Oluwatobi’s search. It was agreed that he would go in a few days, along with a group of our fighters that could help him. It was an opportunity for them to gain Investment and advance their Masks.

After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that they would take the smaller of our two boats along with a few of our scouts led by Gabriela Isa and Angelo Serrano. Our two highest Investment Scouts and the two people that had escorted me to the camp what felt like years ago. I knew them to be good, solid people, and their Masks would help with Oluwatobi’s search. Angelo had the Mask of Danger Seeker, and Gabriela the Mask of the Tracker Scout. With them, they would send two of their fighters who had rifles and skills that helped use them.

Most of the danger could be easily handled by Oluwatobi, without his children to protect I doubted that there was anything on Earth able to threaten him as far as beasts were concerned.

Aside from looking for his wife, they were to look for other survivor groups. If they were small, then invite them to our town. It they found large groups just establish relations.

With everything agreed, we finished the meeting.

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I walked through the city, looking around. People still showed me deference. It wasn’t just the bowing, it was the way they stepped out of my way and waited for me to pass. The way they looked at me, as if I was their savior. And I was, I had also taken control of their lives, led them hundreds of kilometers across the land and settled them in a magically created town.

I understood their looks. Even if Father Sergio wasn’t pushing his more religious belief on me, they would’ve still looked at me in the same manner. I’ve seen it before, in the slums, when the cartel swooped down to help after misfortune. Floods, famines, sickness, it didn’t matter. Cartel always helped, even at a loss. Because the cartel understood that the goodwill of the people mattered.

I was doing the same thing now. I was helping, I helped the survivors, I helped Oluwatobi. All because I wanted their gratitude, their loyalty. I wanted them to follow me, and in order to earn that I had to give.

Power could only get you so far.

The people settled well, life seemed to have returned surprisingly quickly to some semblance of normalcy. I saw children running around, heard laughter, gossip. The harsh reality of the world around us faded away in days. The world made sense again, even if it was harder.

They had walls around them, they had food in their bellies. It was enough. And I had done that for them. It made me feel good.

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Three days later we found out what the challenge was.

“A labyrinth?” I asked.

The young girl nodded her head. She had been offered the entrance to the challenge, and had refused it.

“Yes,” Adanna said in a quiet voice. “It said that we had to do puzzles and navigate the labyrinth, and also something about surviving encounters.”

I wish that I could’ve read the description myself, but it didn’t sound as dangerous as what the last challenge was. Though, encounters could mean a lot of things. And if the Suul were in that challenge too… it would make it incredibly dangerous.

“Thank you,” I smiled at the little shifter girl, then raised my eyes to her father. “When do you leave?”

“In an hour,” he said. “The ship is loaded with supplies, and the wind is favorable to get us across the sea.”

I nodded, having to think about the wind was not something I had anticipated, but there were people who had at least passing knowledge of how sailing worked. The fishermen were also teaching some of the kids that had simpler Masks, so that theirs might advance and change direction toward more sailing related evolutions. We would need them.

“I wish you good luck, I hope that you find your wife,” I told him.

He bowed his head. “Thank you again for coming to my aid. I’m sorry for the manner I reacted initially. I… I’ve never known that vampires could change as we can, and seeing you in the sun…”

I waved my hand. “It’s nothing, I understand. Only the oldest of my kind can shift as I do, and the sun… well, it is no longer our sun.”

“It’s a hard thing to wrap one’s head around.”

“That it is,” I said, as he turned with a wave and left the Keep with his daughter.

I turned to the others. “I’m leaving too, I need to find Aurora. She is the closest of my allies from the challenge and her Mask could be very useful for our future.”

Max scratched his neck. “I wish that you could stay, your presence brings us a lot of peace. But… I understand why you have to go.”

“The more powerful people we have, the safer we’ll be.”

That, and I needed strong people to keep the other factions at bay. There wasn’t much time left.

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I was ready to leave. I had my supplies neatly stored in my backpack, my weapons and a few other things I thought I might need were stored in an improvised sack tied around Saia’s back.

With her coming along, I would be going a bit slower than than I could, but it would be around the same in the end, as I couldn’t keep up with my fastest speed for too long.

Just as I was about to head out, Kai and Carlito found me.

Both of them were fully geared, with their own backpacks over their shoulders.

“And where do you two think you’re going?” I asked, I was pretty sure that they weren’t part of any groups leaving the town.

“We’re coming with you, boss lady,” Carlito grinned.

“Oh, so you’ve grown wings while I wasn’t looking, huh?” I smiled at him.

“Nah,” he waved his hand. “Our buddy Saia is gonna carry us.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. That… could work.

“Why?” I asked, and they got what I meant.

It was Kai that answered. “You need someone to watch your back.”

I tilted my head. “Do I?”

“You’re strong, but you can’t pay attention to everything. You don’t know what you’re going to encounter out there.”

That was… true. I didn’t really have any big reason to deny them. They would slow me down, true, but not by much.

I looked at them as I was thinking. Having them around wouldn’t be the worst thing. It would give me a chance to help them get stronger, but also to give me Investment for my Leader Ornament. And I had already taken them under my wing in a way. They were my closest associates in the camp. My left and right hand.

“Fine,” I said finally. “Saia, if that’s alright with you?”

“Feedback: They’ve already asked.”

“Of course they did.”