Vae Victis - B2 Chapter 4 (Patreon)

The Dungeon

Walking through the forest with a kid in tow was a different experience. I had forgotten just how slow humans were, especially children. It was also quite strange walking around without Saia. I had grown used to having her drone around, scouting ahead for me. But at least I could feel her weight on my wrist, a reminder that she was always there. Not that the fact that she was literally attached to my nervous system did that any less.

I was still not sure about taking the kid to the rift with me, but I knew that I was playing against the clock. We had six months before portals opened up and allowed people from Kirios to arrive and explore Earth, another six after that before we joined the new world fully. I had to get a start on things soon. I had information to spread, and I had to start putting pieces into place. Set myself up to have the most impact I possibly could.

I was lucky, and I had fought to survive and had earned power for myself, I had a responsibility. And I had made a choice to help those who had been trapped by the circumstances of their life, like I was long ago.

Felix kept glancing my way, probably noticing things that I didn't want him to know yet. I couldn't let him think more deeply about why I wore a mask and glasses. It was daytime, so I didn't worry that he would see anything strange in the way I walked. It was easier to pretend during the day, even though I was still stronger than a human. Still, I had to distract him.

"How many of you are there, at the church?" I asked.

Felix startled, then looked away. "There is a lot of us," he said slowly.

I blinked, and then realized that he might still not be trusting me too much. It was smart, and I had managed to get him to say things that he probably wouldn't have otherwise, but he had some time to think and calm down now. I was a stranger, and obviously dangerous in his eyes. Hiding my face probably didn't help at all.

"You don't need to tell me," I said. "I'm just interested in how you survived. You are actually the first person I've met since all of this started. I was in the woods the whole time. I don't know anything about what happened since the light came."

"Really?" Felix asked.

"Really," I nodded.

"Well, you know how everything got moved around when the light came right?"

I inclined my head. I had seen it back on the road, where it was suddenly cut off and a strange forest that didn't belong was put in place. Shadow had said that our entire world would be turned into a single continent, that places would be shuffled around. I hadn't really thought about what that would really mean.

He seemed hesitant to speak. "You don't need to say anything that you don't want to," I told him.

He looked up at me for a moment, then away. He took a deep breath. "It was really scary," Felix started slowly. "Before the light came I was on a trip with my mom and dad," he bowed his head, his tone sad and shaky. "We were in Medellín to visit my aunty. I don't remember much, only that dad woke us up early, before dawn because he wanted an early start on our trip back home to Cartagena. We almost got out of the city when the light came. It was so bright that I had to close my eyes, and it made it hard think for some reason. Then I heard the voice in my head and I got my Cl--my Mask." He glanced in my direction, but quickly turned to look back in front of him.

"I remember stopping, and people yelling all around us. The lights stayed on for a few minutes, I think. Then we started hearing animals, dogs and cats howling. And then the rats started getting out of everywhere, they started attacking people in big swarms," he shuddered.

I remembered the frenzy that made the animals on Ish Vimza attack us. It would make sense that something similar happened on Earth when the Grand Spell first arrived.

"We got in the car and started driving away with all the others, I heard gunshots." He whispered. "The cars still worked back then, though our phones didn't, we had no signal. We headed north in a big group, with some other people who headed the same way, until we found one of the moved places, the road just cut off and a big building was there, like just in the middle of nowhere. It was an animal factory, dad said. Cattle farm or something like that. The animals had broken free, and as soon they saw all the cars... there was a lot of them. Cows, they... we didn't see them in time. They hit the cars, and flipped them around, we tried to get out, I remember crawling out of a window with my mom. But then... I don't know, the cows were attacking everything in their way, stomping on people. Mom was pulling me by my hand, but it slipped and... I don't remember," he shook his head quickly. And I reached out to him, more on instinct than any real thought.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," I whispered, patting his shoulder awkwardly.

He didn't look at me, he just shrugged his shoulder away from me, then spoke again after a few seconds. "I lost mom and dad, I didn't see them since. I ran into the forest, I... I don't even remember for how long, days probably. Mr. Martin found me, he is a hunter, he was in the woods when everything happened. He took me back to the church, where the others were. There were other kids there, they were all from an orphanage, on a trip with a nun, old Tita. Mr. Martin found them too and brought them to the church. It was one of those places that was moved around, just the church and the town square, with a couple buildings that were part of San Pedro before, were moved. Now were are just there in the middle of the woods. The hunters, the padre, and Tita, are the only adults there, they took us in and kept us safe."

"They must be good people," I commented.

Felix shrugged. "They're okay, I guess. But we don't have much to survive on, not with what the raiders take."

I tilted my head. "What the raiders take?" I repeated.

"They come every few days, and they take whatever they want. There is a lot of them, so there isn't much that we can do," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. That I didn't like, not at all. "Who are they?"

"Survivors, like us I guess," Felix answered. "They have lev--Carvings and weapons, they raid the rifts to get them. There isn't much that we can do other than do what they say."

I didn't say anything. I knew that there would be people like that. The world wasn't a good place even before all of this happened. But when Felix told me about the group that took me in, I thought that perhaps the threat would have made us look out more for one another.

"This place of yours is safe though, yes?" I asked.

"As much as it can be," Felix answered. "We sleep in the church at night to keep safe."

"So what kind of dangers are around here, aside from bears," I smiled, trying to change topics slightly.

"Well, jaguars are the most dangerous thing around, Mr. Martin mentioned that he spotted one a few weeks ago. Snakes, owls, bears, all animals have gotten a lot more aggressive. And the closer you get to the big cities, the worse it is, at least that is what Mr. Martin says."

"Really? Wouldn't it be safer there, where there is more people?"

Felix shook his head. "They're all dead," he said.

"How?" I asked.

"Mr. Martin says that people turned on each other, and then the beasts got stronger and killed the rest. He says that he saw rat swarms where each rat was the size of a dog," he shivered. "From what the raiders have said, the big cities are death for anyone stupid enough to get close. There are a lot more rifts there, and many of them broke open, filling the cities with all kinds of monsters."

That was worrying. If rifts were like the ones on Ish Vimza, and had animals from other worlds... That could be a real mess.

We settled in a silence as we walked. I didn't want to press him for more, I could tell that he didn't like thinking about it all, which I understood. Having your parents ripped away from you at such a young age and in such a way would be hard for anyone. Or at least that was what I thought, I didn't really have that much personal experience. My family gave me away willingly.

* * *

It didn't take us long to find rift. I saw light coming from in between the trees. I glanced at Felix to see if he noticed it yet, and saw him still looking around. Human eyesight was worse than mine, so I didn't say anything as we got closer.

"There!" Felix exclaimed a little while later. "There it is!"

He rushed forward, and I quickened my step to follow. We came to a stop in front of the rift's opening. It looked the same as last one did. Like a coin sized orb casting a light all around it. The only difference was the color of the light that it gave off. The one that I encountered was white and this one was green. I didn't know if there was a significance to that.

I caught Felix as he took a step closer. "Careful, it will draw you in," I said, already sensing the strange buzzing that I felt the last time pulling me forward.

Felix shook his head, looking terrified, then stepped back next to me.

"What do we do now?" He asked, his voice hushed and filled with worry. He sounded like a scared kid that he actually was, not the someone older filled with bravado that he liked to pretend.

"Do you know why it's green?" I asked.

Felix shook his head. "I only know that it would be bigger if it was closer to breaking."

I nodded, that was good to know. "So," I started slowly as I faced him and forced him to look at my face. "Here are the rules: You stay behind me, I say jump, you jump, I say stay, you stay. If you disobey me..." I trailed off, and he swallowed nervously.

"Understand?" I asked.

He nodded quickly. I took a long look at him and then before I could change my mind I grabbed hold of the knife at my belt and offered it to him. It was Shadow's blade, so it was not affected by whatever it was that impacted Earth blades.

Felix looked at it with wide eyes, and shakily took it out of my hand. He pulled the blade out of its sheath and looked at the silver metal.

"Really?" He whispered.

"Do you know how to use that?" I asked.

He looked a bit uncertain, so I took a step to stand next to him. "Here," I carefully took his hand in mine, minding my strength as I had him grip the knife properly with both hands. It was too big for him, so I figured that gripping it with both hands would be better. "You point this end away from you. If anything comes close, you swipe at it, keeping it away. If it still keeps going, you stab, like this," I showed him how to do it properly. Or as well as I could in the circumstances. If anything got through me, I doubt that he would be able to survive on his own.

"Now," I turned to look at the rift and took a deep breath. Bringing a kid with me was stupid, I knew that, but this was a new world. People had to grow, and grow fast. "Let's go."

I stepped forward, holding a hand on Felix's shoulder next to me. I could feel him shaking beneath my palm. I gripped my spear tightly and reached for the rift.

It pulsed, and an echo sounded out of my chest. I heard Felix grunt, and then the light exploded around us. It pulled us in, and I heard Felix screaming. The world shifted, but I was far more centered now than I had been the last time. A moment later, there was solid ground beneath my feet again and I landed gently, catching Felix as his scream got louder.

Then I lost my grip on him and he fell to the ground as I felt a surge pierce through me. I sighed loudly as I felt my strength return to me, as the sun no longer stifled me.

I opened my eyes and saw a familiar sky stretching all around us. Stars and nebulas painted everything, awash in colors of red, blue, and yellow. With no sun in the sky but the stars that were too far away to have any effect on me.

Sand was beneath my feet and Felix was on his knees, looking around with the knife tightly gripped in his hands. This place was smaller than the last one, a lot smaller. We were on an island floating in space that was barely the size of a basketball court.

It was covered in sand in all directions, with no signs of life.

"This is amazing," Felix said as he got up to his feet.

I shook my head and put a finger over my mouth. Immediately, he closed his mouth and I turned my attention to our surroundings. I didn't hear anything moving, but that didn't mean that there wasn't anything around.

I turned around and found that the rift entrance was there, just behind us. I frowned, that wasn't right.

"What is it?" Felix asked as he saw me studying the green light.

I gave him a look, that he probably missed because he couldn't see my eyes. Then I decided to risk it.

"I'm trying to figure out why this is here," I told him in a whisper.

"What? The exit?"

"Yes."

"Where else would it be?"

I turned to look at him. "The last rift I was in had an exit in another location. I could only leave after I finished the rift."

He blinked. "The hunters never mentioned anything like that. They could always leave the rift whenever they wanted."

It seemed like there was a lot that I didn't know about the rifts, not that I ever had any illusions that I knew anything before.

Well, at least knowing that we could leave at any time was good.

I turned my attention back to what was in front of us. Quickly, I spotted something in the center of the island that looked like it was stone. I headed that way, gesturing for Felix to follow. It was indeed stone. Brown stone surrounded a hole with stairs that led into the darkness below.

I gripped my weapon and pointed it in front of me, then took a step forward.

"Follow behind me, but keep a distance," I said and started descending.

Felix nodded and I turned my attention back in front of us. I could see the bottom at the end of about two dozen stairs, and quickly made my way down. At the bottom, I saw a long straight corridor stretching in front of us, with a light source coming from the end. The corridor ended around twenty meters ahead, with a chest along the back wall.

"Oh," Felix said, his voice filled with relief. "It's a trap dungeon."

I glanced in his direction. "A trap dungeon?"

Felix nodded. "Mr. Martin encountered one once. It didn't have monsters, it was just a room with a chest surrounded by traps. He said that an arrow coming out of a wall nearly took his head, so he didn't try to reach the chest. He gave the location to the raiders, and apparently they managed it," he gave me a side glance. "Though I overheard them talking when they came around that they lost three people in it."

"So," I said. "Dangerous."

He nodded nervously. Well, I could understand the sentiment. The ground in front of us gave way to a giant hole that stretched all the way to the end of the corridor, and it was filled with wickedly sharp metal spikes. It was pretty deep also. I didn't see any way across that was obvious, but I took a step closer and then knelt next to the edge, studying everything.

He had called it a trap dungeon, or rift. That didn't mean that it was actually that. We didn't have nearly enough information to make that assumption, and just calling it something did not make it that thing. The last rift could've had traps, but it could've been that the Grand Spell had just taken a trapped area and made it a rift at random.

My rift had been a piece of the Ke Erzi world, a lot larger than this place, but it was also in an area on Kirios that was considered the most dangerous place on the planet.

We were on Earth, a newly integrated area, perhaps the difficulty and size of rift correlated to the danger of the area it was in? I couldn't know for sure, but I knew that I had to be cautious.

I raised my head and looked at the walls, noticing small holes placed at three different heights. They looked too small to be handholds, and instead looked more like murder holes, which I was very familiar with. We utilized them often in our trap houses and bases of operations in the barrios.

"How do we get across?" Felix asked.

I tsked to myself, if I was being honest, I could probably jump across with little issue. Well, the ceiling was a little low, but I didn't think that I needed that much of an arch. I was confident that I was strong enough to make it. There were two issues, the murder holes which I had no way of knowing if they would fire, or what would trigger them. And the fact that me jumping over would most certainly reveal to Felix that I wasn't exactly human.

I paused as I thought that, and then frowned. Perhaps it wouldn't, I could always just say that it was my Carvings or a skill. I had a perfect way to hide my vampire nature. Everyone in this world got them now, and they had no idea all that skills could do.

"What do you think?" I asked, wondering if he had any ideas.

"Well," he looked over, squinting to see. "Are those holes in the wall?"

"They are," I answered.

"Maybe we could use them to climb over the wall?" He said hesitantly.

It wasn't a bad idea first idea, I had it too. "What if those were traps too?"

He blinked, then frowned. "Yeah, they probably are, aren't they."

I nodded my head.

"So what do we do?" He asked.

There was no real good option. Not unless we left and came with more tools. Which, as I thought about it, was probably the point of this rift. Too bad for it that I could cheat.

I stood up and walked back to the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Felix asked as I leaned my weapon on the wall.

"You wait here, I'm going across."

"What?"

I didn't answer as I started running. If I had my skills, the [Mist Step] would've probably prevented anything dangerous from hitting me, but I hoped that with enough speed I could avoid it anyway.

I reached the ledge and jumped. I heard and felt the crack of stone beneath my feet, and then I was soaring through the air. Immediately, I heard the snapping of strings, and impacts behind me, but I was moving too fast for anything to hit me.

I landed on the other side and took a few steps to bleed my momentum and then came to a stop.

I glanced back and saw Felix looking at me with his mouth open wide. I saw bolts embedded in the walls on both sides, and walked over to one that was close to the edge. I pulled it one out of the wall and looked it over.

It was short, like a dart, with a narrow and sharp point that was encased in metal while the rest of it was made out of wood. It was relatively heavy for the size, so I decided to gather as many as I could. I could use them as throwing weapons.

Once I was done, I turned my attention to the chest. I didn't open it immediately, as I was worried that it might be trapped. I walked around, taking a closer look, then I sniffed around it looking for anything out of place.

Once I saw nothing amiss, I raised the top open.

The chest held four items, the same as the last time I opened one. The first things that caught my eyes were the two cloth pouch, identical to the ones in my backpack. I already suspected what they held, so I pulled them out and looked in them. The first was filled with coin, silver again which made me grimace. There were less coins than there had been in the last rift as well. The second pouch held two gemstones, both of them brown in color, earth stones it seemed like.

The two other items were far more interesting. They were two boxes of ammo. The text on them was written in a language that I wasn't completely familiar with, but it looked German to me. One of them was rifle ammo, .22 LR box, and the other was in English, with the words Sellier & Bellot 460 S&W written on it.

I opened one of the boxes. Immediately I was surprised to see that the ammo wasn't decayed, and looked to be in the pristine state. I took a sniff and then licked one of the bullets. It tasted the same as the weapons I got from Shadow. I could tell that they weren't made of any alloys from Earth, which was why they were probably in perfect condition. It confused me, I didn't know why this would be here. I remembered the glaive that I found, it too hadn't gotten decayed, even though it wasn't anywhere near the quality of Shadow's weapons.

I stored the things in my backpack, and then took a running leap back.

The traps fired again, but I was too fast for them to hit me. Absently I wondered how they detected me, but that wasn't a priority.

I landed, and Felix rushed over.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

"Masks give us many different skills," I said, avoiding the truth.

Felix gaped at me with wonder in his eyes. I turned my eyes, uncomfortable with what I saw there and pulled my backpack and grabbed the two ammo boxes.

"This is what we got," I said.

"Oh, that's great. We always need more ammo," he said as he took the .22 box.

"You have guns?" I asked. "They aren't rusted?"

Felix waved his hand. "The old ones are, but Mr. Martin found a hunting rifle in one of the rifts. It is what helped us survive."

So, guns still worked, or at least the ones that the Grand Spell gave out did.

"They are rare though," Felix said. "Like really rare, we have to hide ours when raiders come, otherwise they would take it."

The more I heard about these raiders, the more I didn't like about them.

"So, this is good?" I asked.

"Yeah," Felix answered excitedly. "If I come back with this the padre and Mr. Martin will be very happy. And I even have a skill! They won't be able to say that I'm a burden anymore."

"Why do you think that I'll just give you this? I was the one that got it."

The expression on his face made me immediately regret my little joke. "Don't worry,. You can have that one," I pointed at the box in his hand.

The look of relief on his face was too much for me. I put the other box in my backpack then straightened.

I turned toward the exit. "C'mon, let's go."