Over and over we rolled down the mountain, down smooth slopes and over bumpy rocks, being tossed head over feet inside the water shield ball. I think I screamed, but I couldn't tell if it was internal or not. Levi tumbled with me, sometimes landing on me and sometimes I landed on him, although I tried not to. I didn't want to hurt him, but didn't have any control. The ball was rolling so fast that I was disoriented and couldn't control it. The only thing I could do was keep the water ball intact. What if I dissolved it and immediately smacked into a boulder?

Suddenly, we were free falling. I gasped, not knowing which way was up or down anymore, and my stomach lurched with acid. Somehow, I righted myself just before the water shield crashed in the ground. It shattered, absorbing most of the damage of the fall. I flopped onto the ground like a lifeless puppet, too dizzy to see what the impact had on my HP bar. But it hurt like hell. Dimly, I noticed Levi landed on my back. I barely even felt it, because everything else was too painful. Gasping, I unsteadily crawled up to my hands and knees just into time to hurl. At least I was high enough that the bile didn't smear on my face.

Levi slipped off my back, which was a good thing, because he also rolled over and regurgitated a mouse monster he ate earlier.

Although my stomach was empty, I didn't feel any better. I wobbled away from my mess and slumped to the ground, waiting for the world to stop spinning. Oh my god, I didn't even know someone could survive rolling down a mountain in a giant hamster water ball. I'd heard of people going over a waterfall in a barrel, but a mountain? I could now say for sure that it's a shitty pastime. One I'd never do again. Willingly.

I didn't know how long I laid there, feeling the light rain patter on my face. It felt like an instant and forever, both at the same time. When I could finally open my eyes and the clouds didn't rotate anymore, I gingerly sat up. The first thing I did was check my HP. The green bar in the corner of my vision was about seventy percent full, and that was after Regen had worked its magic while I laid on the ground. Relieved to know that my aching was mostly superficial, I checked out where I was.

We'd landed in a long valley that stretched between two mountain peaks. Yellow and green wild grass spotted the rocky dirt and slanted pine trees dotted the oval space. At the far end of the valley, it looked like it dipped into a slope that led to the base of the mountain. Early evening shadows, for the angle of the sun behind the mountain peaks, stretched across the valley like sharp teeth. That’s right, I needed to start looking for a place to hide for the night. Instinctively, I searched around the valley walls. There had to be a cave around here.

Instead, my attention was drawn to the long trail me and Levi made down the mountain side. My gaze followed the trail up and up ... and up. My lips parted as the realization that we just rolled down half a mountain and lived finally settled in. It was ... a really long way. Miles. We rolled for miles.

Levi climbed onto my thigh and slumped down, obviously still shaken. Eee... He grumbled.

"Believe me, I didn't want to do that either," I mumbled and pressed a hand to my throbbing head.

All I wanted to do was lay back down and just veg for a second, but I couldn't do that. We might not be safe right now. Just because I couldn't see a threat, it didn't mean something wasn't there. In fact, this valley seemed almost too peaceful.

I steeled my stomach and shifted to get up. Something flashed in my periphery. I stiffened and faced it, dumping Levi on the ground in the process, summoning my sword to my hand. There was nothing there. My eyes narrowed as I looked around. I saw something flash. I knew I did.

Levi sat up, hissing at me, thoroughly offended.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

He paused and looked around, vigilant now.

The only problem was, I couldn't see what made the flash. Nothing moved and I couldn't feel any monsters. Somehow, this felt familiar, like I’d done it before. My stiff muscles loosened and I shifted to stand back up. Something flashed again, but this time it came from my feet. I stumbled back and aimed my sword at whatever it was. Levi rose high, his neck thinning out in a threat. It took me a second to realize that the flash came from something embedded in the ground.

"What is that?" I knelt down.

Carefully, I slid my fingers along the tarnished metal and pried a small metal rectangle out of the dirt. My eyes widened as I turned the metal box over and over, taking in every detail. But I didn't really need to examine it closely, I already knew exactly what it looked like. Because I dug an exact replica out of the unknown dragon just days ago. It was exactly the same — the same shape, the same slit on the top panel, and the exact same place the tiny screws were positioned, only this model was about four inches long as opposed to eighteen inches.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

But how did it get here? I mean, I was in a valley between two peaks, halfway to the mountain summit. Then again, the first metal box I found was in a monster, so this weather-beaten one must have been in a monster too. Was there another unknown monster around? Which would suck. Every time I encountered the strange, overpowered monsters, it wasn't fun. First the horned monkey unknown, then the unknown dragon, both of which I nearly died. Luckily, the monster this rusted box came from was apparently on the smaller side, and it was obviously dead now, or I wouldn't be holding the box now. Hopefully.

So, where was the carcass? And ... What killed it? Unfortunately, I didn't have a way to tell if the box came from a weaker monster like the horned monkey unknown or a strong one like the unknown dragon. Knowing that would let me know how strong the monster that killed it was. And I can only assume the monster ate the carcass too, considering that it wasn't here now. But was the killer still around?

Levi noticed my fascination was the box and climbed up to check it out. He touched it with his nose, then pulled back when he realized what it was. After all, the last one we found had one of his scales in it. Hhhhh...? He blinked up at me, just as alarmed.

"I don't know why it's here. Or what the unknown was hunting." After all, the only unknowns I’d ever encountered were actively attacking other monsters. I shook the box, but didn't hear anything rattle inside. Maybe it was just an empty, never before used box, but that didn't seem likely. I was dying to take it apart to see if there’s a clue inside — like a monsters part — but right now wasn’t ideal.

Concerned, I stored the metal box in my Items Bag and took my sword out, automatically casting a water film around the blade. I looked around the open glade, searching for another living creature. Nothing.

Maybe there's another clue where I found it?

I crouched down and fingered the hole left behind where I pulled it out of. It was shallow. So the box was down long enough for weather to tamper with it, but not long enough to be fully buried. Unfortunately, I wasn't a good enough tracker to read the clues to flesh out the story.

A white spot in the dirt not far away drew my attention. Bones from the carcass? Maybe that was the monster the box came from. I shifted over and brushed the dirt away. Then froze.

Mouth pressed in a tight line, I pushed more dirt away, revealing one bone. Then another. And another. Twenty-seven bones, all preserved perfectly in the dirt and arranged like a hand, connected to two long bones. Because of my family's business, I handled a lot of monster byproducts. Bones, flesh, and muscles were common items that I frequently sorted and stored. Because of that, I had a very high knowledge of what was a monster part ... and what wasn't.

These bones were, without a doubt, human. More specifically, a human hand and connecting arm. And there were more.

So how did they get up here? Like I said, this was a really unusual location. Even without seeing the other entrance of the valley, I could tell that it wasn't easily accessed. So why was it such a dumping ground to weird things?

Levi didn't have the same interest in the corpse. What was dead, was dead. Instead, he sat at my feet, practicing his letters. Hhhhh. Eeeee.

But I couldn't leave it alone. The light drizzle moistened the ground enough that the dirt bunched up and slid the side on a mound, revealing the curve of a helmet. I blinked in surprise. Armor. Maybe I could find the maker's symbol and figure out where this Hunter was from. Unfortunately, the whole corpse was buried by the elements. It was shallow enough that I found it, but since it was underground, I couldn't 'see' it with the special water vision I had. Resigned to my new position of grave robber, I reached out to push away the dirt.

The whole world went black.

I froze, suddenly unable to see the fingers right in front of my face. It happened that fast. One second I could see, a half a second later the beautiful scenery disappeared and I was left in a void. If it wasn't for the solid ground under my feet, I'd think I was in outer space. Even the plip plip plip of rain landing on my shoulder guards stopped.

Levi's agitation permeated our connection. I wasn't the only one suddenly blinded.

Just then I noticed a faint glow coming from the water magic on my sword. It wasn't much, but it was grounding enough that I didn't panic. I frowned as the seriousness of the situation settled over me. For my surroundings to change so much in an instant, it meant only one thing.

I was in a monster lair.

Most monsters learned to blend in with their surroundings, such as the gigaroaches taking over the Science Initiative building in Laramie and horned monkey's that lived in the old, overgrown mining building. But some monsters changed the very wilderness around them, like the fire martins and the ice ora. And the main contributing factor to a change in the environment was magic.

To completely turn a bright, summer day into a pitch black void was an oh shit moment.

Quickly, I threw my hand up and opened up my Guide screen. The pale teal glow reflected off the surrounding bushes and tall grass. I flicked through the menu screen, searching for the torch orb.

The sound of grass rustling on grass caused my hand to pause. Instinctively I pointed my blade in the direction it came from. Only, I couldn't see anything. The rustling increased, until it was impossible to ignore.

"Levi?" I whispered. Could he see anything?

Before he could respond, the ground split open. A half decomposed human corpse burst out, flinging dirt everywhere. Its head wobbled around, vacant buggy eyes bobbing this way and that. Then it turned and looked at me, mouth open in hunger.

*****