By the next day we were still roaming the Blue Canyon. We had been searching for the missing hunters, but so far hadn't found anything. Thomas was doing better and could walk on his own with assistance from Ario, although Sio was still ignoring me, dodging my questions and keeping her distance.

We searched the other side of the canyon and the mines again, but still there was nothing. Sio looked exausted and any hope that we would find them seemed to have vanished from her eyes.

- We should go back... - Her voice was heavy and saddened.

- We can't! We need to keep looking! - Thomas tried to get Sio to hope again, but it had no effect.

- We can't do anything. They are likely dead... - Sio responded.

- We haven't found any bodies, they can be still be alive!

Thomas was stubborn, desperate to keep looking, but Sio had made her mind already.

Everyone felt disappointed and frustrated, including me. I wanted to help them but I felt like I just made things worse. Thomas suddenly started groaning and collapsed to the ground, his leg pain was flairing up again. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and Ario and I picked him back up. We couldn't stay in this canyon, it was too open and unprotected, and we would be sitting ducks if monsters decided to attack. We hiked out of the canyon and to the nearby treeline, setting up camp and a fire so that Thomas could rest.

- I'm sorry that I'm a burden, for all of you... - Thomas said.

- You are not! It's not your fault, that fucker broke your leg! - Ario snapped back, trying to make him feel better.

As I watched them they reminded me of a family, and I remembered how much I truly missed Shaun.

I crashed by a tree next to the camp to get some sleep, but just before I nodded off I noticed Sio approaching me. She sat down next to me, and for a while she was quiet. After some time akwardly sitting in silence, she spoke up.

- Can you explain to me what happened then? With the bandits? - She asked in a timid voice.

- Well... I managed to kill them and-

- Your eyes... And there were too many of them... How?

I knew I had to tell her the truth, and trust that she would understand.

- My eyes glow like that from touching the Stone. It happened a long time ago, and now whenever I loose control, they change like that.

- It's... It's a side effect from the stone?

- Yes.

- But.. How did you kill all of them? - She asked uncertainly.

As she asked, her look changed from a cold stare to worried, and scared. I knew I had to be careful, but I wasn't too sure how to do that and still tell the truth.

- I'm... I'm a Ghost... - I wasn't even sure if she would know what I meant by that, but I felt like I needed to tell her. - I'm still kinda confused what it means to be one, but... I'm not an enemy.

- You're a Ghost?! - She said in disbelief, her eyes going wide. She moved back somewhat. - You... Don't say that to anyone, Joker. Okay?

- But... Why?

- In our history, Ghosts aren't the good guys. Most say that they are Destroyers of life...

This majorly confused me, a Destroyer of life? I had no idea how to respond. There was a long moment of silence between us as I tried my best to understand what Sio had just said, but my mind was like a black hole.

- I trust you, Joker... I don't think you are a bad person, but... You need to be careful and it would be better to keep your true self a secret. - She said in a whisper.

She left me be to check on Thomas, but from that moment I felt like I didn't know who I was anymore. Was it true, what she said? Destroyers of life? What did that mean?

I tried my best to get to sleep, but there was so many thoughts swirling through my head, I was hopelessly wide awake. Suddenly, I heard the crack of a branch behind me, and before I could turn to investigate, two dark hands gripped me and started pulling me into the forest.

Art Page 9 1 by Kinia24Lara [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/82661c93-9351-4e6d-b82f-6e1e720e90f5/deltk0i-131f99b7-951e-4237-acce-cddf5db51bba.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzgyNjYxYzkzLTkzNTEtNGU2ZC1iODJmLTZlMWU3MjBlOTBmNVwvZGVsdGswaS0xMzFmOTliNy05NTFlLTQyMzctYWNjZS1jZGRmNWRiNTFiYmEucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.6ZoK-Ead19WKYzF8DPFR9pHdftntnUxpLDZWkmCJTls]

It happened so fast, Ario and Sio didn't have any time to respond, and by the time they reached the tree I was at, the hands had pulled me out of sight of the campfire. I knew what those hands belonged to, I saw enough of those monsters back in the city.

It kept running, pulling me across the ground, holding me by my hood. I tried to free myself but it's grip was too strong. After a while it stopped running, but before I had time to adjust and attack back, it lifted me up to the point I could see it's black, demonic eyes staring into me. It was hard to believe that at some point this monster was an ordinary human before. It then threw me against a tree so hard the tree nearly broke against the strain. I was not so fortunate. I felt pain in every bone in my body, especially in my right leg. I looked down and saw that a large shard of wood had pierced through the fabric of my pants, already soaked with blood. I quickly pulled it out and I groaned from the pain. I tried to stand up but I couldn't lift my body, hitting the tree knocked the strength right out of me. The monster was looming in front of me, ready in every way to attack and rip me to shreds, but it didn't move. I felt for my knife, but it had dropped in the scuffle, so I quickly improvised and grabbed one of my arrows as a weapon. Even still, it just... Stood there silently.

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Wreckedworldx3 by Kinia24Lara [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/82661c93-9351-4e6d-b82f-6e1e720e90f5/deltjzz-f9ce1ca5-1056-44b0-9f9c-b24d456d14dd.png/v1/fill/w_1101,h_726,q_70,strp/wreckedworldx3_by_kinia24lara_deltjzz-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9ODQ0IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvODI2NjFjOTMtOTM1MS00ZTZkLWI4MmYtNmUxZTcyMGU5MGY1XC9kZWx0anp6LWY5Y2UxY2E1LTEwNTYtNDRiMC05ZjljLWIyNGQ0NTZkMTRkZC5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.UJGoZFj-YX9EP7uY_VUxJex5C25V4eKj-UWFJrj-Rnw]I couldn't tell what it's intentions were. Did it want to eat me, or just toy with me? I tried to back up, but when I did it let out a shrill scream.

- What the hell do you want!? - I yelled back at it, not knowing what else to do.

The force of my tone must have spooked it, because it ran away as soon as I shouted at it. Why didn't it try to kill me outright? I tried understanding what just happened, but that quickly hit a dead end, so instead I focused on finding Ario, Sio, and Thomas again. It was dark under the canopy, but there was just enough light for me to still make my way around.

I was burdened by my damaged leg, but I did my best to swallow the pain and kept moving as fast as I could. I later happened apon my knife and the fabric mark from the house. I hadn't even realised I lost it. I pocketed both and moved on, hoping I was heading in the right direction. After some time I knew I was lost and alone again, stuck in this massive forest. I was tired, cold, and in pain and I felt like giving up. I took a deep breath and reminded myself why I was here. To find Shaun.

I sat down by a tree, checking first that the area was safe, and pulled out Shaun's old music player. It still had the headphones plugged in so I just put them on and pressed the play button. It began playing a song I recognized, one that I remembered Shaun loved to play on his guitar. It reminded me of the old days. I liked listening to him, he had a talent for it. Maybe if we hadn't touched the stone way back when, we'd be listening to this together, like everything was normal. I closed my eyes and imagined it, feeling some of the stress and pain fade away.

The cold night breeze grazed my leg, and I shivered. I had to keep going; maybe I would get lucky and find the group again, but I knew that wasn't likely. I was very much lost. My leg had healed up enough that I could lean on it without too much trouble, so I walked on through the forest. Eventually I found the treeline again, and hoping it was nearby where I was dragged in, I hurried over. When I exited the forest, my heart sank. I wasn't by the Blue Canyon anymore. I had found another part of Poruln City, it's ruined buildings fading into the horizon. I didn't know what zone this part was in, but perhaps I could find a part I recognized and find my way back. As I started down one of the city streets, however, I felt eyes on my back. Someone was watching me. I was in a bad position, there was too much open space around me and if someone were to attack me, there was no cover I could reach in time. I had to find a safer position, so I entered one of the damaged building. Moving inside was risky, the walls and floors could break at any time, but I didn't have much choice. It seemed to have been a residential building, judging by the furnishings left behind and scattered about.

I hid in one of the rooms on the second floor and stayed quiet, I knew I didn't have the energy to fight anyone. I waited, watching for any movement or sound, but after an hour of silence I thought it safe to explore a little. It seemed that if the stranger that was watching me from before had moved on, or perhaps was just waiting longer to strike... Since the floor hadn't broken underfoot yet, I decided to camp out here for the night. There wasn't much in the way of anything on many of the floors, just empty or destroyed rooms, but once I made it to the 8th floor, I found a single locked door. It was still in good condition, too sturdy to knock down. At first I was cautious, I wasn't sure it was a good idea to open the door, but if there was anything in the room beyond that could help me, I had to investigate. I popped the lock on the door with my knife, the lock was old and rusted so it wasn't too hard to open. I carefully entered to room. I was surprised once I entered to see a lot of supplies, like food, water and blankets. I did a sweep of the place to make sure I was safe and alone, and when I finished and didn't find anything worrying, I locked the door with my knife from the inside. I sat down in a corner against the inside wall, wrapping myself up in one of the blankets. I checked the food that was stored for anything edible. Most of it made me sick to even look at, but there was a few soup cans that seemed alright. Soup wasn't my idea of a good meal, but it was better than nothing.

Once I had gotten something in my stomach, I looked around me and found some old torn-up notebooks. They seemed to have belonged to whomever used to live here. It felt like I was invading someone's privacy, but I decided to read through a few of them. In the books were written something about a large, safe city, and how the people abandoned others and their call for help. They closed themselves in behind a huge wall and a bridge, the only way in or out. On the other side they had food, clean water, electricity, medical help and the most important... A normal life. There were random scraps of paper that seemed to be messages and letters to loved ones and friends. I started to understand how this disaster had affected people's lives, ruined them. I knew now, more than ever, that I still had to find Shaun in this seemingly endless mess. He really could be anywhere...

I thumbed through the last notebook from the pile, looking for any more information. It was mostly full of scetches and drawings, some of happy people, some were sad. The notebook must have belonged to an artist of sorts. There was a signature on each of the drawings, just the single word "Nathan". It seemed to be the name of the artist. I had almost reached the last page when I noticed a small note: "Don't trust her, don't trust her. She is lying. She will kill us all." Who was "she"? I felt a pit rise in my stomach. Just when I thought I wouldn't find anything more, on the last page was another sketch taped to the inside of the cover. Once I saw it, my heart quickened. It was a sketch of Shaun with the date "05.21.2025" and a caption: "To my new friend, Shaun Kayn! Thanks for saving my ass and let's hope that the bad days are over soon!". I felt closer to finding him than ever, even thought the drawing was made over 7 years ago.

Art Page 9 Cz Last by Kinia24Lara [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/82661c93-9351-4e6d-b82f-6e1e720e90f5/deltk05-e9dc0e51-4632-4239-893c-77aa150b6f95.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_615,q_80,strp/art_page_9_cz_last_by_kinia24lara_deltk05-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9NjE1IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvODI2NjFjOTMtOTM1MS00ZTZkLWI4MmYtNmUxZTcyMGU5MGY1XC9kZWx0azA1LWU5ZGMwZTUxLTQ2MzItNDIzOS04OTNjLTc3YWExNTBiNmY5NS5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.yc01scUfo4SEZ_KPPyVNtXmshaGZvlDY6a5zhDhwy-k]

I stared at the sketch for a long time. Shaun looked slightly older than I remembered... - He would be 40 years old now... - I thought to myself, it was crazy how much time had already passed.

I stored the sketch in a safe spot in my coat and, leaning back, closed my eyes to get some sleep before tomorrow.