The voice came again.
Low. Ragged. Almost swallowed by the wind.
Theo's fingers twitched, where Elizabeth had clamped her hand over his mouth. His heart hammered so loud, he was convinced whatever stood below could hear it too.
"…Help…"
Elizabeth frozen.
A voice, almost tragic in its beauty.
She slowly lowered her hand from Theo's mouth, her other hand already glowing faintly, as she pulled energy into her palm. The air around her warped slightly, responding to her focus.
Theo swallowed. "That… wasn't a monster, was it," he whispered.
"I don't know," Elizabeth replied quietly. "Whatever it is, we need to leave."
Moving closer to the slope, they moved carefully, not to dislodge any loose stone. The mountain dropped sharply here.
They could see the craters littered at base clearly.
Hundreds of them.
Theo's breath caught. "Those weren't… no, those couldn't have been made by a storm, sharp energy residue from it." Closing his eyes, he thought internally, "What the hell happened here?"
Looking at the thing calling for help, he mentally noted dark hair and looked male.
Theo's stomach dropped. "He's… carrying someone."
Elizabeth's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean that thing is a person?"
Theo followed her gaze.
The air near the stranger looked… thin.
The stranger took a step.
The energy beneath rippling as the figure continued walking.
Elizabeth didn't hesitate.
She thrust her hand forward, releasing a compressed burst of energy straight in front of him.
The attack struck cleanly where he was going to take a step.
Stone exploded outward.
The stranger was thrown off his balance.
Theo flinched. "Eliza— what are you doing!"
The dust settled.
Slowly.
The figure wasn't harmed, as far as it looked.
He pushed himself up on one knee, breath ragged, the unconscious person still clutched firmly against him. Black residue clung to his skin like oil, crawling faintly before sinking back into his skin.
Elizabeth sucked in a sharp breath.
"…He absorbed it."
Theo stared. "What?"
"My attack," she said, disbelief creeping into her voice. "The energy didn't disappear, but it didn't hit him either. It drained into the air."
The stranger lifted his head.
His eyes were unfocused.
He tried to speak.
"Why the hell are you still attacking us…"
Elizabeth, frightened by the loud voice, launched another attack.
This one was stronger.
Theo barely had time to react, trying to stop her before a second blast slammed into the stranger's side, carving a trench through the ground.
The impact echoed across the mountain.
Theo shouted, "Stop!"
The stranger slid to a halt, coughing violently. Blood dripped from his mouth. His knees buckled, but he did not let go of the person he carried.
Elizabeth faltered.
Theo's voice was loud for anyone to hear. "He's… protecting whoever that is!"
The stranger's side started to get covered by that black substance.
Theo took a deep breath before he got up and jumped down. As he went falling, both the stranger and Elizabeth were stunned.
The stranger lifted his hand out, shouting, "What the hell are you doing!"
Theo, closing his eyes, had prepared in case he had fallen, and smiled thinking, "If it wasn't for Old Man Han, I wouldn't have even considered jumping."
Remembering his training with Old Man Han to use the shoes, he prepared to land on his feet.
Old Man Han, holding a table as Theo climbs: "Theo, do you know the second function of these shoes?"
Theo, putting his hand on his chin to think: "Well, the first function is the 'Skywalker,' which lets the wearer walk on surfaces, and the second function is…" he said, as Old Man Han shook the table, making him fall.
Theo, now no more than a meter away from the ground, said its name loud and clear as his heart rushed, "Corpse Mount."
A strong wind came from beneath him, breaking his fall, and brought him to the ground with a soft thud as he landed.
Both Elizabeth and the stranger could only look in awe at the wind that vanished as fast as it appeared.
Theo, complaining a little, got up and dusted his clothes, turning to look at the stranger.
"I don't… fight," the stranger said as he moved back warily, his accent unfamiliar. "I just need a doctor."
But from above, Elizabeth's hands trembled.
Every instinct screaming that he was danger.
Everything about him felt like looking at a horror.
And yet her friend said he was protecting him, but whatever that thing is, she looked at him—the energy around him was falling into him, and not coming out.
Theo stepped forward with his hand up.
"I can help."
She hissed, "Theo, get back—!"
The stranger looked at him with suspicion.
"I know you're suspicious, since my friend attacked you just now," he shouted. "But that person on your back seems really hurt."
Elizabeth stared, breathing hard. "You don't know what you're doing. I have to…"
"If you let me help, we can take you to our settlement," Theo said, looking at him.
The stranger's hands were shaking from exhaustion.
Up above, Elizabeth took a step back, preparing to jump, but a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Don't go on acting out of fear, you damn brat," she turned slowly to see who it was. "Mister Levin."
Levin, shouting loudly enough for Theo and the stranger to hear: "All of you down there, if there is someone injured, we can't waste time on your meaningless talk. Theo, give him some clothes to cover up and bring them here."
The stranger opened his eyes in surprise.
Elizabeth's breath caught. "He has a name."
Theo, looking with a given-up expression: "Well, I guess that settles this." As he spoke, he looked closer to notice that the stranger really had no clothes.
Theo, handing a sweater he had in his bag, looked like his life was over. "Here, you need this. By the way, what is your name?" he asked, as he went to help carry the unconscious person.
The stranger, hesitantly accepting the sweater: "I am Mattias. That is Miras."
"Mattias," Theo said, finding it to be strange.
Elizabeth, walking after Levin that started going back to Hollowreach, couldn't shake that feeling of deep fear.
"Kill us," she said quietly, as Levin stared at her quietly.
Mattias, giving a weak sigh as he walked with Theo helping him carry Miras: "Who was that guy?"
Theo, looking to the distance, also sighed. "That was my dad."
Mattias, confused, stared at him. "Horrors can have kids?"
Silence fell over the mountain.
The wind shifted.
Theo stood still, then looked at him.
"Do you mean those monsters?" he said, voice shaking but firm. "No, we are not horrors."
Mattias looked to him sharply.
"What do you mean?" His eyes widened. "You… you're human?"
Theo nodded.
Mattias exhaled, a sound close to relief.
"You're… really," he said as his breath slowed. "So this place you live is full of humans."
Theo started moving, and only smiled.
Mattias, following him, reached a place that looked like a dead end. He could not see anything special about it.
Catching up with Levin and Elizabeth, Levin pulled a key from his pocket and put it to the wall. In a flash, a rift opened. It was bright with street lights, making Mattias shield his eyes with his hand.
Walking through the gate, they turned back toward the barrier, but Theo felt a crawl up his spine as he turned back to see the barrier, only to see a figure with a finger to its mouth.
Blinking to make sure what he saw was real, it vanished.