Written By: Pillowyspu

Edited By: Epicstu Wyyvernwriter

It lasted for days, or hell, maybe it was only minutes. She couldn’t tell. This claustrophobic nightmare seemingly never ended. The Woman had never experienced torture of this caliber. As gut wrenching agony charged through every fiber of her body, she screeched in excruciating pain, yet her voice was muted and she knew no one could hear her anyway. She wanted to flee but she was paralyzed by the weighted fear of what might happen to her if she tries to abort teleportation between realms. The drunken asshole that sold her the portal gun made it clear she should never try to abort or face the consequences. He told her “Just whatever happens, let it happen.” So instead of fighting this, she submitted to this torment and moaned relentlessly as she endured seemingly endless torture. She was trapped in abject and abysmal darkness and it drove her to the brink of madness. She had used the portal device dozens of times before but this never happened. The only thing she could think: Fuck, this isn’t right.

            Her body ached when she woke up floating in a pool of glassy emerald water below a towering grotto. She savored the sound of rushing water that cascaded from a waterfall above her and took a much-needed gasp of air before opening her eyes. A symphony of songbird pulled her in a trance as a massive feeling of relief wafted over her. She smiled. Was the torture over?

However, as her pupils adjusted to the light, she barely had the chance to take another breath before an intense force of gravity pulled her under the water. The woman struggled to stay above the surface but she could feel her ankles pull back into the icy depths. Every time she resurfaced, she would struggle to take a breath before being sucked back into the dark abyss. After a while, she began to choke on that crystal emerald water. It filled her lungs and her vision tunneled. As she climbed to the surface of the water one last time and prepared to take her final breath, an arm reached for her. With all of her remaining strength, she pulled it to her chest and attempted to kick towards the surface before her tunneling vision faded into darkness.  

            “Wake up!” Nid’s voice pulled her back into consciousness. The Woman was lying face down on the banks of a stream just outside the entrance to the grotto. She gasped as gushing water erupted from her esophagus. After a horrid fit of coughing and vomiting a few times; the woman relished the air that entered her lungs.

            “Where are we?” The Woman struggled to speak. She turned on her side and continued to vomit.

            “A bird sanctuary on some planet that starts with an ‘O’, I think.” Nid replied as she chuckled in disbelief. “This isn’t one of Drak’s facilities.”  

            The woman took a moment to realize where she was. Despite her body being in total agony, the beauty of this realm enthralled her. Like something out of a storybook, lush green foliage swallowed the world whole and blades of sunlight pierced through a gold-tinted overcast sky. Massive cliffs commanded the grotto and the woman suddenly felt insignificant compared to world around her. She was just above the timberline; the rushing stream beside her spilled down the mountain and twisted beyond the horizon. Below her, dark hollows and chasms were buried by towering pine trees, and the crisp air was enchanted by the sweet and savory scent of melting snow and spruce needles.

            The Woman attempted to stand but despite her youth, she moved at a geriatric pace. Her body was stiff and her head felt as if it was stuffed with gasoline soaked cotton. The woman examined her battered frame; she had not only lost her gear, she was stripped down to her underwear and the ashen hue of her once flawless skin was singed crimson and covered in bruises and welts. Her trusted submachine gun was nowhere in sight and her still quivering right hand was grasping the portal device. Exhaustion overcame her and she collapsed backwards, succumbing to gravity once more. She let her ginger hair sink into the muddy banks of the stream as she stared up at the sky and contemplated her demise. “Where’s my gun?” the Woman spoke in a daze, “And where’s my pants?”

            Nid giggled and offered her a helping hand, “I don’t know what the fuck that – thing – did to us,” Nid said as she pointed to the portal device, “But yeah. We lost our most of our gear.”

The Woman grabbed Nid’s hand. Her knees were still gelatinous but she won the fight with gravity this time and managed to stay on her feet. She looked at the device and while she was relieved to find it looked relatively unscathed, the Woman’s heart sank when the words “WARNING: ERROR CODE [NEC-0195]. DO NOT USE” were flashing in bold red letters on the diagnostic panel.

            “That isn’t good.” Nid pointed to the LCD panel, “I’ve only seen that error code once before.”

            The Woman garnered enough energy to vent, “So we’re stuck here in a bird sanctuary on God-only-knows-what-realm. We don’t have our weapons; we don’t have armor. And the portal gun took a dump so the next time Noah finds us, we’re not going to be able to just portal our way out of the shit storm like the last few times.”

            Nid didn’t respond.

            “Hey. Fuck! We might as well do some bird watching while we’re here, hey?” The Woman’s sarcasm only added weight to the already marinated feeling of panic that smothered her.

            “Relax. I can fix this – it’s just going to take some time.” Nid barely inspired confidence in the Woman, “Noah Miller will still be after us. We need to find somewhere he can’t find us.”

            The Woman took a breath and submitted, “Okay. You’re right.”

            “There’s a village down in that valley. Maybe someone can help us. At least help us find a weapon.”

            The Woman’s first instinct was to stay at the grotto – she didn’t want to spend any more time in this realm wandering around a stupid bird sanctuary in search for answers that might not even exist. She considered challenging Nid, but the woman couldn’t help but feel vulnerable and she was afraid to admit she was helpless. Without Nid, she probably wouldn’t have survived even the first minute in this realm. Realizing this, she granted Nid her unconditional trust. After all, Nid was probably the first and only friend the Woman has ever learned to trust. Every other “friend” the woman has had the displeasure of meeting has been either been morally corrupt or selfish. Yet the woman saw Nid as enlightened; their philosophies tended to align most of the time and the woman respected Nid as the powerful yet merciful warrior she is. Because of this, the Woman let Nid take the lead.

For the first mile downstream, the Woman found each step was more torturous than the last and part of her wished she had just drowned in that grotto. Yet the soothing feeling of cool mud between her toes kept her going. It was a small luxury but it reminded her that even through all this pain, there is always an ounce of mercy. Nid didn’t share the Woman’s optimism; instead, Nid grunted each time her foot was sucked into the viscous mud and cursed under her breath as she begrudgingly lumbered down the bank of the river. As they dipped below the tree line, layers of moss draped over everything it could, weeping and creating an eerie mix of despair and serenity that haunted this desolate realm. This realm didn’t have Drak Mountainhiem’s fingerprints on it – it was too pristine.

            “Up ahead.” Nid said as she pointed to a small fishing cabin on the banks of the river. At first, the woman felt an ounce of hope, which was only shattered by the fact that this cabin looked as if it has been abandoned for decades, “Maybe we can find something useful.” The woman appreciated Nid’s enthusiasm but did not bask in it.

            Years of harsh winters had battered this hand-built cabin and despite it once being the sturdy pride of someone long deceased, it looked as if one more harsh winter gust will finally put this weathered pile of timber out of it’s misery. Despite this, the door was still dead-bolted, the windows were barred shut and it looked guarded.

            Nid threw her weight against the door and it splintered with very little effort. A flurry of dust danced around the room; the woman stood in the doorway as Nid entered the small fishing cabin without delay. Deprived of any thought or consideration, Nid immediately trashed the place, overturning everything in sight in search of anything useful. The woman watched Nid ravage the place like a starving animal searching for scraps. It wasn’t like Nid to enter into any situation without carefully assessing every possibility that may arise. She didn’t even check for booby traps. She’s getting sloppy.

            “Why aren’t you helping?” Nid snapped as the woman looked at her with a sense of haughty pride.

            “You’re not doing this right.” The woman finally garnered the courage to challenge Nid.

Nid froze in her tracks and glared at the woman. She scoffed, “Look at this place. There’s nothing to find. It’s just an old fishing cabin. Besides, what exactly are you doing to help?”

            “No one locks up a fishing cabin this tight. There’s something here.” The woman said as took a few steps into the room. She let the silence take over as she gingerly paced around the room. She paused when she heard the floorboard beneath her foot creak. Nid watched the woman fall to her knees and Nid was filled with anticipation as the Woman lifted the floorboard to reveal a vintage hunting rifle, a bow and quiver, and a sheathed hunting knife in pristine condition, “See what I mean?”

            Nid immediately wrapped her bony fingers around the black walnut stock of the hunting rifle. She examined the faded patina and reveled in the weapon’s unique character. Despite being far from show-room quality, she slid back the bolt to find it was still well oiled and ready for action. Besides, it had the kind of soul that was lacking in modern rifles and she appreciated this. The woman grabbed the bow and placed it over her shoulders and eyed the hunting knife but before she could get her hands on it, Nid claimed it for herself.

            Nid’s face lit up as she pulled the hunting knife from its sheath and examined the blade. It was at least a hundred years old and rust coated the handle like a cancer but the sheath had kept the blade in impeccable condition. She placed it back in its leather sheath and fastened it to her hip. “This is a start.” Nid stated before she exhaled a worried sigh, “But this cabin won’t keep us safe. It’s too exposed.”

            “What do you want to do then?”

            “We need to move into the forest – away from the river. He wont be able to track us through the thick foliage.”

            The Woman eyed the portal gun, “How long do you think this thing will take to be repaired? He’s probably not far behind us.”

            “I’m not sure.” Nid had a look of defeat; “I don’t even really know what’s wrong with it.”

            The Woman didn’t like that answer, “I thought you said you could fix it.”

            “Of course I can fix it!” Nid spat at the woman but paused after she realized the Woman sensed her self-doubt. The Woman decided to ignore Nid’s ignorance and uncertainty; once again, she reluctantly accepted that Nid was her only hope for survival and she accounted Nid’s sloppiness as a side effect of the botched teleportation. After all, even Leon Aventis’s are not always perfect. However, As Nid and the Woman exited the hunting cabin and hiked through the mossy, overgrown forest towards an unknown destination, the Woman couldn’t help but feel a budding sense of paranoia. She already knew Noah wasn’t far behind and between the malfunctioning teleportation device, Nid’s carelessness and her own physical weakness, she began to wonder if they were going to be able to outmaneuver Noah this time.

*          *         

Noah’s ship hovered just outside Olympion’s atmosphere. As Noah rolled up the last of his stash, he took a drag and gazed at the planet’s unsullied vastness. His ship’s records indicated less than 100,000 human-like life forms resided on the planet’s surface that covered well over one hundred million square miles. Finding the Woman would be next to impossible as Noah’s last DNA signature of the Woman placed her somewhere in U’thantu Bird Sanctuary, which only narrowed it down to a few million square miles in a mountainous subarctic continent near the planet’s magnetic north pole. Nid, on the other hand, wasn’t even showing up on Noah’s radar. Noah didn’t care – it wasn’t really Nid he was after.