The world was still.
Vierd stood over the massive corpse of the beast he had slain, his breath slow and steady. Blood pooled beneath its severed head, dark and thick like ink, seeping into the earth. The air was heavy with the scent of iron and damp moss, the whispers of the wind carrying an eerie stillness through the towering trees.
But it was not silence.
Something was watching him.
He could feel it.
The weight of unseen eyes pressing against his back, lurking just beyond the edge of his senses. The forest was alive, not merely in the way all living things were—but in a way that felt wrong. As if the land itself was aware of him, breathing, waiting.
Vierd exhaled slowly, forcing himself to remain calm. He had just come back from a place beyond time, where he had spoken to something that should not exist. His body still tingled from the aftershocks of that encounter, his veins pulsing with power that was both foreign and familiar.
And yet, none of that mattered now.
He was alone.
Rain was missing.
And he had no idea where this cursed world had thrown them.
Reunion in the Unknown
Vierd moved swiftly, weaving through the ancient trees, his golden eyes scanning the dense foliage. The air was humid, thick with the scent of wildflowers and damp bark. Strange bioluminescent spores floated lazily in the air, pulsing with faint green light, casting shadows that seemed to shift on their own.
He had no map. No direction. But he knew one thing.
If he had been thrown into this world, so had Rain.
And Vierd wasn’t about to let this place consume him.
Then, a sound.
Distant, but sharp. Metal against metal.
A fight.
Vierd’s instincts took over. He ran.
His body was faster now. He could feel it—the raw efficiency in his movements, the way the world around him blurred as his legs carried him forward. The new energy coursing through his blood was real, and it was his.
The trees parted suddenly, revealing a clearing bathed in the eerie glow of floating spores. And in the center of it—
Rain.
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He was surrounded.
Three towering beasts circled him, each one different, each one twisted in a way that defied nature. One had six legs, its body covered in jagged black plates of bone. Another stood on two legs, its arms unnaturally long, its fingers tapering into wicked claws. The third had no eyes, only a gaping mouth filled with endless rows of shifting teeth.
Rain stood in the middle, his silver hair stained with blood, his blade coated in a dark, sticky substance. His stance was perfectly controlled, his breathing calm despite the overwhelming odds.
But Vierd saw it.
The tension in his shoulders. The slight delay in his movements.
He was tired.
He had been fighting for a while.
Not good.
Vierd moved.
Before any of the creatures could react, he was already on them. His sword sang through the air, a blur of silver and black. The six-legged beast didn’t even have time to turn before his blade sliced clean through its neck.
The world froze for half a second.
Then, with a sickening crack, the beast’s head hit the forest floor.
The other two creatures recoiled, their bodies shifting unnaturally as if registering his presence for the first time.
Rain let out a slow breath, rolling his shoulders.
"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH."
Vierd didn’t glance at him, his gaze locked onto the remaining enemies. "YOU’RE WELCOME."
Rain let out a quiet chuckle, but there was no humor in it.
"NO TIME FOR TALKING."
One of the beasts lunged.
The Unnatural Beasts
Vierd met the charging creature head-on.
It slashed at him with one of its elongated arms, the claws moving so fast they were barely visible. But Vierd had seen faster.
He ducked low, feeling the wind of the strike graze his hair. Then, with a single explosive movement, he drove his sword upward, aiming for its torso.
The blade connected.
But instead of cutting through flesh, it hit something hard.
A ripple of unnatural force shot through the beast’s body, knocking Vierd backward. He skidded across the dirt, his boots digging into the earth to regain balance.
He glanced at his sword.
The blade was covered in a thin layer of frost.
His eyes narrowed.
This thing… It absorbed the impact.
Before he could process it further, Rain was already moving.
"SWITCH!"
Vierd didn’t hesitate. He pushed forward as Rain leapt past him, his own blade igniting with a dull gray aura. The moment he struck the beast—it screamed.
The energy around Rain’s blade disrupted something in its body. The monster convulsed, its limbs twitching unnaturally.
Rain’s magic worked. His didn’t.
Vierd’s grip on his sword tightened.
The beasts here… were different.
After the Battle
The last of the creatures collapsed, its twisted form melting into the ground like ink dissolving in water.
Rain exhaled, running a hand through his sweat-damp hair. "WELL, THAT WAS FUN."
Vierd sheathed his sword, his expression unreadable. "YOU'RE INJURED."
Rain shrugged. "I’LL LIVE."
A pause. Then—
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Vierd’s golden eyes flickered as he looked down at the blood-soaked earth. The creatures had left nothing behind. No bodies. No bones. As if they had never existed at all.
His voice was low. "THIS WORLD IS WRONG."
Rain glanced at him. "YOU SAW IT TOO?"
Vierd nodded. "IT’S NOT JUST THE BEASTS. THE LAND, THE AIR… IT'S WATCHING US."
Rain exhaled. "AND YOU THINK THIS HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE STONES?"
Vierd’s fingers curled into a fist.
The vision. The voice. The entity that had spoken to him.
"YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO SURVIVE."
"EVERY STONE YOU CONSUME RESTORES WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM YOU."
His entire existence had just changed.
But he couldn’t tell Rain.
Not yet.
He forced his expression back into calmness. "WE NEED TO FIND SHELTER FIRST. THEN WE TALK."
Rain studied him for a long moment before nodding.
"FINE. BUT SOONER OR LATER, YOU’RE GOING TO TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU."
Vierd didn’t respond.
He simply turned toward the darkened forest, his mind still spinning with unanswered questions.
And deep within the shadows, something moved.
They were not alone.
Not anymore.
