Khanna was wild-eyed. She grabbed my arm, screaming something, but I couldn’t hear a word because of the roar of the Ravana Storm. The boiling darkness completely covered the ocean and the sky.

  I picked up the huntress and carried her away. Then I didn’t bother with the bus. With her in my arms, I took a running leap off the cliff edge. We flew over the beach far below us, and for a second, I thought I might overshoot the ridge. But no, I landed on the main walkway behind the watchtower.

  There was no to communicate to the women. I’d wanted to tell them to grab our supplies, but no, the howling winds and thunder made any communication impossible, and we didn’t have the time to grab any of our shit.

  I gently pushed Khanna toward the bus. She took the hint, sprinting away.

  In the meantime, I raced up the tower and picked up Billie. Then I sped across the bus and leapt from it. I landed and turned to go get Holly, but what I saw made me stop in my tracks.

  The strange storm didn’t stretch from horizon to horizon but came at us like a black rectangle with ninety-degree angles. It was leaving the new world behind it—rolling green fields, like Ireland maybe.

  Holly left the watchtower and ran across the top of the bus. Without pausing, she threw herself off. What was she doing?

  No, I knew—she had complete faith in me.

  I did catch her, and we both tumbled to sand just as the huntress joined us.

  It was pretty certain the wave would cut right through Lonetree Ridge, which would fucking ruin the weeks of work we’d put into our home.

  But then?

  A new sound joined that whistling wind and thunder. For a second I was confused. I’d heard that sound before, from the Fodoron Obelisk, that same thrum, otherworldly and awful.

  The black storm took a forty-five degree turn to the northeast.

  Holly and I were on the ground while Billie and Khanna stood over us. All of our mouths opened as the storm moved past us, completely blocking our view to the north. Thankfully, it had missed our ridge. The heat had us all sweat-soaked, and the electricity in the air made the hair on my arms stood straight up. Those dark clouds seem to destroy all light that touched them. It was like looking into the very idea of darkness itself. The thrumming got so bad that all the women were on the ground, their hands pushed over their ears.

  For me, Opal took care of my hearing issue.

  HOSTNAME: Sid Marshall. Warning. Switching off hearing to preserve eardrum physiology. Decibels at dangerous levels.

  “Opal!” I yelled, but I didn’t hear a thing. “What is going on?”

  The Fodoron Obelisk is altering the expected course of the Ravana Storm. Scanning for more information.

  Everything was silent as I watched the darkness move past us, cutting through the Dinosaur Swamps. More of those Irish green hills was left behind, adding another sector to the strange world of K’Shaul.

  The green hills stretched north as far as I could see. A few oddly shaped animals were on hills in the distance. At first, I thought they were sheep, but no, they were something different.

  Watching the ocean gush over the newly created lands was amazing. I couldn’t hear the roar of the gushing water reclaiming the land, but it was clear that it was making a ton of noise.

  Restoring HOSTNAME: Sid Marshall’s auditory abilities.

  Suddenly, I could hear again.

  The ocean was churning and churning over the new land. How many power crystals were being lost under all that water? I hated the idea.

  Khanna ran to me and threw her arms around me.

  “What in the fuck?” Billie cursed. Instead of being afraid, she seemed angry.

  Holly squinted at the hills. “Without my glasses, my eyes aren’t very good, but I’m not blind. Are those sheep?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “Is everyone okay?”

  “No, Sid!” Billie yelled. “My ears are fucking ringing, and I’m scared shitless. Whatever the fuck that storm was, it was coming right for us. I hate how it sounds. I hate it so much. And the thrumming. Ugh, I feel like I might fucking puke at any minute.”

  I held Khanna.

  Billie’s eyes went to her, then to me, and then she turned. “I’m fine. But now what? What do you do when suddenly a new world appears right next door to you?”

  I told them what Opal had said about the Fodoron Obelisk.

  “Fascinating,” Holly whispered. “Could it be a clue to K’Shaul’s history and purpose? Perhaps the Obelisk is open. We still haven’t been inside.”

  It took me less than a second to decide what to do. “I’ll go and check out the new world. If those are sheep, not only will we have more meat, but we’ll also have wool. I could go for a wool blanket.”

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  “It would be so fucking itchy!” Billie complained. “But maybe that would be better than the leather blankets, which kind of smell. I hate this. I want a blanket, no, I want a comforter, a mattress, like a dozen pillows, and my phone. Yeah, my phone, and I want to scroll Instagram until my fingers fall off.”

  Khanna turned to look at Billie before looking up at me. “The blond bitch seems like she is speaking nonsense. Is the bitch speaking nonsense?”

  I switched language. “She’s just scared. Like you were.”

  Khanna stiffened and stepped away from me. She scowled. “Khanna not afraid. Khanna worried for Sid Marshall. Sid Marshall not cover his ears.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Billie stood with a hand on her hip. Such a brat. “Are you two done making fun of me?”

  “We weren’t making fun of you. Khanna just wondered if you were afraid, and I said you were.”

  Billie seemed to soften. “I was afraid. I am afraid. What if the Fodoron Obelisk doesn’t work next time? We could lose everything.”

  “Perhaps we didn’t lose everything, but we certainly lost our chance,” Holly said quietly.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Holly sighed and pushed a trembling hand through her hair. “We didn’t think to throw ourselves into the Ravana Storm. It might’ve taken us home.”

  “Opal, would the storm have taken us home?”

  HOST query impossible to answer without more information. All available data suggests the Ravana Storm brings landscapes, materials, and biological entities to K’Shaul. Extrapolating upon that theory, it would suggest the Ravana Storm would send affected entities to other parts of K’Shaul along the area affected.

  I relayed the information.

  Holly shook her head. “We should try.”

  “No!” Billie said quickly. “That would be insane. It might just melt us like it melted off our clothes. I’m a girl who likes to take risks, but not when dealing with something that hacks apart realities. Ugh. What am I even saying? I sound so nerdy.”

  That made me laugh. “Look. You three stay here. I’ll go and check out the new land. Besides, there should be some power crystals there since the Ravana Storm just came through. I’d love to get Opal to 100%.

  Khanna frowned at me.

  Billie laughed. “Uh, the huntress is not going to stay here with us. She hates us. But she loves you. That’s pretty clear.”

  “Khanna, I need you stay here and protect Holly and Billie. Can you do that for me?”

  The huntress’s frown turned into a scowl. But then she surprised me. “Yes. Khanna not like it, but she will stay. Khanna protect bitches. Khanna work on canoe.”

  “That’s great. Thanks.” I pulled her close and kissed her forehead with both Holly and Billie watching.

  I couldn’t read their expressions, since they were still freaked out by the close call. And yet, it seemed like they might be jealous.

  I went and hugged them. With Holly, it was a little stiff, but with Billie, it was different.

  She pulled me close and held me tight. “Don’t fucking die on me, Sid Marshall.”

  “Don’t worry.”

  Then, before I knew it, I kissed her on the forehead. It felt so natural.

  I left them to run down the path toward the Fodoron Obelisk.

  I found it, still thrumming loudly, but no doorways appeared.

  Opal did some scanning, but nothing had changed. Like before, the four sides of the Obelisk’s base was locked up tight. The runes on the sides of the Obelisk were the same as well. Thanks to my quantum A.I., she had mapped out every sigil.

  After checking the obelisk, I ran to the walkways that the Sleezenak had built over the water. One walkway ended at a green hill that cut through the heart of the swamp. For a second, I wondered if the Ravana Storm had hit the Mound Mountains and Club Sleezenak, but no, the drums continued to pound in the distance.

  Stepping onto the grass, I was given an amazing sight. It seemed I wasn’t the only one curious about the new world. A herd of huge, armored dinosaurs— Ankylosauruses—were grazing on the new grass. Looking up, skies above the two world were separated by an exact line: New Ireland had a normal blue sky with a normal sun. The Dinosaur Swamps had a hazy orange tint to it.

  The Ankylosauruses kept an eye on me. A few of the big males were flexing their club-like tails while the mothers got in front of their little youngsters.

  I kept my distance, so I wouldn’t cause a stampede.

  “Opal, what can you tell me about the new sector?”

  Sector 3.667.B (Eru, Hill District, Southern Continent)

  “I’m going to need more than that.”

  I headed away from the herd of dinosaurs while Opal chattered on.

  First mapped by the third generation Arkadians, the Eru has no sentient life on it, but there are carbon-based mammals, a wide variety of herbivores, with few natural predators. There are some predatory birds as well as packs of canine type creatures but not many. Several power crystals can be found along the border with the swamps.

  Instead of running toward where we saw the sheep, I ran along the border, and yes, I found a few small power crystals. Picking them up, I absorbed the energy, and Opal told me, triumphantly, she was at 79%.

  I took a right and sped across the green landscape, topping hills and leaping off them. I floated down, landed on glowing legs, and kept on running.

  I stopped at the sheep…well, they were kind of like sheep. Except the animals had eight legs. Spider sheep? No, they ate the grass with normal herbivore mouths and had two normal eyes. Except for their legs, they looked normal. In my head, I started calling them octosheep.

  I wasn’t going to go home empty-handed.

  I turned my Paraxen multitool into a spear and flung it as hard as I could. Betsy struck a sheep right through the heart while he rest of the herd went charging off.

  I was pretty proud of my throw.

  Scooping up the sheep, I set it across my shoulders and started the journey back.

  We’d survived the Ravana Storm, and I got a little more information on K’Shaul. The Fodoron Obelisks did have a purpose after all.

  I remembered what Opal had said about the Eruvian animals. I didn’t like the idea of predatory birds coming after us on Lonetree Ridge. And what were Eruvian dogs like?

  Yes, we still had some worries, and yet, I couldn’t help but be grateful. Lonetree Ridge was still around, we still had our house, and now we had a new food source.

  Life was good.

  On my way back to Lonetree Ridge. I didn’t need to go through the dinosaur swamps. I could follow the new strip of land—New Ireland—back to the ocean.

  It had cut about a hundred yards north of our waterfall. Walking along with the octosheep over my shoulders, I traced the sides of the cliffs it had shorn through.

  Would I really want to jump into the middle of something that could cut through mountains like a hot knife through butter?

  I would’ve said we’d been lucky it hadn’t cut through our home, but it wasn’t luck, it was the Fodoron Obelisk.

  The ocean had spread out to cover part of the new grasslands. The pounding surf had torn off big chunks of the grass, making the water a dark green from all the debris and dirt. All that soil was going to do interesting things to the impossible ecosystem.

  Already, I could see fish leaping and jumping, which brought more animal life.

  Out there, about five hundred yards north of the skyscrapers, I saw a scarlet light glowing in the water. If that was from a power crystal, it had to be the biggest one yet. I had to get it, clearly, but first, I had to check on the women back at Lonetree Ridge.

  Our world had changed, but that only meant more resources and the promise of more adventures.

  Land of the Lust: Guns of K'Shaul), so if you can't wait, you can run on over there to keep on reading. And if you have some extra cash and like the story, I have a PayPal.