Chapter 42 — A City Somewhere Ahead
Daichi hit the water badly.
There were graceful ways to fall into a lake. There were impressive ways to fall into a lake. There were probably even heroic ways, provided one had enough time to arrange the landing and someone nearby willing to describe it generously afterward. Daichi Moriyama managed none of them. He struck the surface shoulder-first, swallowed enough water to reconsider several of his life choices, lost one shoe for approximately eight seconds, found it again against his forehead, and surfaced coughing while something heavy splashed into the water several metres away.
"CLARK!"
A white-furred head burst through the surface.
"I'm here!"
Relief lasted approximately two seconds.
Then Renji surfaced farther away with Alex paddling beside him, and something beneath the water brushed past Daichi's leg.
Daichi froze.
"Something touched me."
Renji wiped wet hair from his eyes. "We're in a lake."
"That doesn't make it better!"
"It was probably a fish."
Daichi looked down into the dark water.
"That makes it significantly worse."
Something struck him from below.
He yelped.
Clark lunged between Daichi and the shape beneath them just as three long, silver-bodied creatures broke through the surface. Their narrow heads were covered in overlapping blue scales, and enormous jaws opened far wider than any reasonable fish's mouth should have been capable of managing. Rows of hooked teeth snapped shut where Daichi's arm had been a moment earlier.
Clark barked sharply.
"Swim!"
Nobody needed convincing.
The four of them struck for shore.
Unfortunately, the lake had opinions about this.
More silver shapes appeared beneath the surface. One of the fish-like Aetherkin burst upward, twisted in the air and snapped at Alex, who answered with a blast of freezing breath that coated half its face in frost. Normally Alex would have turned the thing into an unpleasantly shaped block of ice and continued on his way. Tonight the attack barely staggered it.
They were exhausted.
All of them.
The passage through the black hole had left their bodies feeling as though they had been stretched across several universes and then folded back together without instructions. Their partners had burned through enormous reserves simply surviving the transit, while Daichi and Renji had spent most of the time since waking trying to work out whether their bones were still arranged correctly.
Then the water bulged.
Daichi saw the tentacle before he saw what it belonged to.
A thick purple limb exploded from beneath the lake and slapped down hard enough to send a wave over all four of them. Another followed. Then a third.
An enormous octopus-like Aetherkin rose from the darkness, its bulbous head covered in black spots and its eyes glowing an unpleasant yellow. Several hooked tentacles churned the lake beneath it while the smaller fish circled eagerly around the disturbance.
Daichi stared.
"We are being attacked by the entire seafood section."
Renji grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him away from another tentacle.
"Swim!"
"I am swimming!"
"Faster!"
"I am giving this everything my body currently owns!"
Clark rammed one of the fish away from Daichi while Alex froze a strip of water behind them, forcing two more to crash against the suddenly hardened surface. It bought only seconds, but seconds were enough. Renji caught the muddy bank first and hauled himself up by a tree root. Daichi tried to follow, planted one foot on a slick stone, immediately lost that foot, his dignity and most of his remaining momentum, and would have fallen back into the lake if Renji had not seized his wrist.
"Seriously?"
"I did not put the rock there!"
Renji dragged him onto land.
Clark rolled onto the mud beside them, breathing hard, while Alex scrambled ashore and snapped around toward the water. The octopus creature reached another tentacle toward them, but they were already stumbling into the trees.
They did not stop until the lake was completely hidden.
By the time the four of them finally slowed, Daichi had discovered something important about survival.
Roots were evil.
Rocks were worse.
Mud was an organized conspiracy.
He stumbled over a raised root for what had to be the sixth time in half an hour, caught himself against a tree and immediately began checking the ground ahead as though the forest might be deliberately rearranging itself whenever he blinked.
"We should've stayed near the water," he muttered. "No, actually, terrible idea. The water tried to eat us. Forest is better. Forest only wants to break my ankles. Probably. Unless the trees are alive. Are the trees alive here? Of course they're alive here. Everything's alive here. We should probably assume the moss has teeth."
Renji kept walking.
Daichi followed.
"We don't know where anybody else is. We don't have enough food. Clark is exhausted. Alex is exhausted. We're exhausted. My socks are wet. I think something is still inside my shoe. If it's a parasite, I want it officially recorded that I object—"
"Daichi."
"—and we don't know where Yuto is, which means—"
"Daichi."
"What?"
Renji stopped so suddenly Daichi nearly walked into him.
The younger boy turned.
"Stop talking and conserve your energy. Can you do that?"
Daichi stared.
The words landed harder than Renji probably intended.
He knew he had been talking too much. He knew nervousness made him fill silence because silence gave his imagination more room, and his imagination had become an increasingly unpleasant place since arriving in the Aetherkin world.
But still.
There were nicer ways to say it.
Daichi adjusted his glasses and looked away.
"Fine."
Renji seemed to realize something had shifted, but Daichi was already walking past him.
For several minutes nobody spoke.
That should have made Daichi happy.
Instead it made him angry.
A surprisingly sharp part of him wanted to turn down the next path they found and simply keep walking. Let Renji deal with his own problems. Let him conserve all the energy he liked.
The thought lasted perhaps ten seconds.
Then Daichi glanced back and saw Renji checking the Resonance Linker again.
Yuto's signal was absent.
Renji's face remained composed, but Daichi had known him long enough now to understand that composure was not the same as calm.
He swallowed his irritation.
Walking away would accomplish nothing.
So he stayed.
Food found them before their patience ran out.
Technically Alex found the food.
The ice wolf stopped beneath a cluster of broad-leafed trees and sniffed several times before trotting toward a bush heavy with small violet berries.
Daichi immediately became suspicious.
"Poison?"
Alex sniffed again.
"No."
"Are you certain?"
Alex gave him a look.
Renji sat down beside the bush.
"Alex knows what he's doing."
Clark flopped onto the ground nearby.
"I know fish."
Daichi looked at him.
"That is not helping."
Clark closed his eyes.
"I also know which fish taste good."
"Still not helping."
Alex moved between several plants with surprising confidence, rejecting some berries outright and selecting others. He found pale orange fruit growing higher on a nearby tree, then another cluster of edible seeds beneath broad leaves.
Renji watched him.
"How do you know all this?"
Alex bit into one of the berries.
"I travel on land."
Clark opened one eye.
"I travel in water."
Daichi nodded solemnly.
"We have established Clark's area of expertise."
Clark shut his eye again.
They ate carefully.
Not enough to feel full, but enough that the shaking in Daichi's hands stopped and Renji's face gained a little colour again. Clark ate several pieces of fruit with the solemn expression of someone tolerating vegetables for medical reasons, while Alex seemed entirely comfortable with the meal.
By the time the sun disappeared behind the trees, none of them had enough strength left to continue safely.
They found a shallow hollow beneath several enormous roots where the forest floor remained relatively dry. Renji gathered what branches he could. Daichi managed a small fire after three unsuccessful attempts and one brief argument with damp wood.
Clark fell asleep almost immediately.
The sea-lion Aetherkin curled against Daichi's side, white fur still smelling faintly of lake water.
Alex remained awake slightly longer, lying near Renji with his head resting across his forelegs.
Daichi looked toward the darkness beyond their little camp.
"I'll take first watch."
Renji glanced at him.
"You should sleep."
"I'm older."
Renji raised an eyebrow.
"That doesn't mean anything."
"It means I get to make irresponsible decisions with more authority."
Renji almost smiled.
Almost.
Then the expression faded.
For several seconds he simply looked into the fire.
"I'm sorry about earlier."
Daichi blinked.
Renji continued before he could answer.
"The outburst. You were talking too much, but..." He rubbed one hand over his face. "I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."
Daichi adjusted his glasses.
"No problem."
Renji looked toward him.
Daichi allowed himself a small smile.
"But you should let me act like the bigger person here."
Renji stared.
Daichi gestured toward himself.
"I'm sixteen. You're thirteen. I have very few advantages left. Please don't take this one."
Renji gave a tired laugh.
The tension finally broke.
He looked toward Alex, then toward Daichi.
"Okay."
Renji lay back against the roots.
"I'll trust my life with you."
Daichi's smile disappeared slightly.
"That sounded much more serious than I wanted."
"You offered."
"I was expecting something like 'fine, wake me in two hours.'"
Renji closed his eyes.
"Too late."
Alex curled beside him.
Within minutes both were asleep.
Daichi leaned back against the tree.
Now he was alone with his thoughts.
Which, he reflected, was exactly what all that talking had been designed to prevent.
His Resonance Linker gave him nothing.
Daichi checked again.
Then once more, because apparently optimism occasionally disguised itself as poor troubleshooting.
NO SIGNAL — OUT OF RANGE
The device was theoretically capable of communicating over enormous distances. In an ordinary world, the network should have allowed calls almost anywhere across the planet.
This was not an ordinary world.
Regions interfered with one another. Ancient systems blocked transmissions. Domains distorted signals. Some areas seemed almost deliberately isolated.
Under good conditions the Linkers could reach across absurd distances.
Under current conditions, the absence of a signal meant the others could be thousands of miles away.
Daichi lowered the device.
He looked toward Renji.
The younger boy slept lightly even now, brow slightly furrowed.
Yuto was eight.
Renji did not know whether his little brother was safe.
And somehow he still managed to keep moving, keep thinking, keep making decisions.
Daichi looked down at his own hands.
What exactly was he useful for?
He knew first aid.
He knew basic medicine.
He knew a great deal of academic information that had seemed very impressive back home and had become considerably less impressive after arriving in a universe where giant monsters regularly solved disagreements by throwing buildings at one another.
He was not a great fighter.
He was not especially decisive.
He panicked too easily.
He tripped over things that were not moving.
Shun understood technology.
Haruto could lead.
Renji remained calm.
Misaki could fight.
Airi somehow made people listen to her.
And Daichi could tell everyone how badly injured they were afterward.
Wonderful.
He sighed.
Then movement appeared between the trees.
Daichi immediately went rigid.
Small shadows fluttered overhead.
One.
Three.
Five.
A group of tiny winged creatures flew between the branches carrying woven baskets filled with fruit.
Daichi blinked.
He recognized the general type immediately.
They were small, dark-bodied Aetherkin with round heads, pointed ears and broad bat-like wings. Their bodies were covered in deep violet-black fur, while their yellow eyes were much too expressive for something with such sharp little teeth. Small clawed feet dangled beneath them, and each carried a basket that looked almost comically ordinary compared with their appearance.
The Linker identified the nearest one.
GLOOMIMP — JUVENILE STAGE
Daichi stared.
Gloomimps had a reputation.
Not necessarily strong.
Troublesome.
Sneaky.
Frequently associated with far more dangerous dark-aligned Aetherkin.
The sort of creature one expected to steal supplies, spread rumours, lure travelers into traps or laugh while somebody stepped on something unfortunate.
These five were carrying groceries.
One noticed Daichi.
Its yellow eyes widened.
It nudged the Gloomimp beside it.
They whispered.
Daichi immediately knew they were up to something.
He glanced toward the sleeping others.
He did not wake them.
Juvenile-stage creatures like these were too weak to break his defensive barrier easily, and Renji needed sleep far more than Daichi needed company.
One Gloomimp fluttered closer.
It hovered a few metres away and looked him over.
"You lost?"
Daichi frowned.
"No."
The Gloomimp looked around the dark forest.
Then at the sleeping group.
Then back at Daichi.
"You look lost."
"We're traveling."
"To where?"
Daichi hesitated.
Then pointed toward the distant horizon.
The enormous World Tree remained visible even through miles of forest and darkness, glowing faintly beyond the canopy.
"There."
The Gloomimp followed his finger.
Then slowly turned back.
"You're going to the World Tree?"
"Yes."
The little creature stared at him.
"Why?"
"That's none of your business."
The Gloomimp considered this.
"Fair."
Daichi hadn't expected agreement.
The creature looked toward the distant tree again.
"Still crazy, though."
Daichi's eyebrow twitched.
"Thank you."
"You trying to get purged at the doorstep or something?"
"Of course not."
"Good. Because that would be embarrassing."
Daichi adjusted his glasses.
"Why we're going there is none of your concern."
The Gloomimp shrugged.
"You're right. Who cares if you get killed?"
Daichi stared at it.
"Your conversational skills need work."
"So does your survival plan."
That was irritatingly difficult to argue with.
The Gloomimp shifted the fruit basket beneath one arm.
"You should at least arm yourselves before trying something that stupid."
Daichi's expression changed.
"What do you mean?"
"There's a proper city nearby."
"A city?"
The Gloomimp nodded.
"Food. Beds. Shops. Healers. Weapons. Information. Everything."
Daichi straightened.
"How close?"
"Close."
"How close is close?"
The Gloomimp smiled.
Daichi immediately distrusted the smile.
"Walk east until you hit the old road. Follow the gold markers."
"Who controls it?"
The creature's grin widened.
"The Boss."
Daichi waited.
Nothing followed.
"The Boss who?"
The Gloomimp merely fluttered backward.
"You'll find out."
That was not reassuring.
Daichi started to ask another question, but the creature had already turned away.
The other Gloomimps joined it.
They flew into the trees carrying their baskets.
Daichi watched them disappear.
Then faint voices drifted back through the darkness.
"You think he'll go?"
"Obviously."
"How long before Goldvein offers them jobs?"
"Five minutes."
"Three."
"Bet you two silver."
"Done."
Another voice laughed.
"Wait until they see the uniforms."
The group disappeared completely.
Daichi remained beneath the tree.
He stared after them.
Then he looked toward Renji.
Then Clark.
Then Alex.
Then toward the direction the Gloomimps had indicated.
A proper city.
Food.
Shelter.
Healers.
After the last several hours, Daichi would have considered selling a moderately important organ for a bed.
He checked that the others were still sleeping.
Then leaned back against the tree and resumed his watch.
For the first time since crashing into the lake, he felt something dangerously close to relief.
He had absolutely no idea who Goldvein was.
Judging by the Gloomimps' laughter, however, Goldvein already sounded like trouble.