Aio began thumbing a small necklace worn underneath his shirt. A memento Riven had given him before Aio departed with Vera, it carried the design of a creature with a long beak. Specular in nature and made of a durable metal of an almost familiar feel, Riven told him it was shaped to resemble the head of a Raven, the bird upon which the Blackbirds were based on. Apparently, he had snuck off into the Night Market to get it for him after his original departure all those years ago, knowing he’d come back some day.

  As the pair approached a ridgeline, they could see a small trail of fire, burning out in the distance. The sun was beginning to peek through this section of the cavern through a large hole directly above them. It shone upon a large expanse of flowers which stretched out for miles below them. These cavern flowers looked quite similar to some of the ones Aio had seen earlier near the orphanage.

  The pair didn’t speak much as they began to move downslope, finding footing on a flat patch of dirt leading to a shallow marsh that bordered the flower field. In the marsh, Aio could spot a strange plant which shone a strong red under the piercing sunlight streaming in from above.

  “A night lotus,” Vera said, speaking for the first time in what seemed like hours.

  “You’re familiar with this plant?” Aio asked.

  “It’s one I adore dearly. A plant that often appeared in my hometown, though its been a long while since I’ve seen it last.”

  She looked genuinely melancholic as she stared at the patches of night lotuses wading through the water below. However, the speed at which her expression changed back to her usual chirpy self made Aio wonder if what he saw was just his imagination.

  They waded through the marsh, shoes getting dirty in the process.

  “I absolutely hate the grime,” Vera muttered. “Better be worth it kid. What could be so important in that village that made us go through rocky ridges and dense swamplands?”

  Aio didn’t answer her. Vera watched for a second, but then turned her head forward again, towards the village.

  “I’m not really sure myself,” Aio finally spoke. “Just that I’d learn a bit more about where my friend came from. That it was something important.”

  “You must be close with this friend to have to make a journey all the way out here of all places,” Vera responded.

  “Yes. A very reliable, though quirky friend.” Aio paused for a moment. “Vera, how did you know where this Guardian’s village was anyways?”

  “Let’s just say Vera the guide knows her way around the underground,” she responded, winking and pointing to herself.

  “I see…”

  As the pair continued forward, trudging through the marsh, pushing aside the lilies which held the night lotuses, Aio quietly activated his Johrei, boosting his perception. In a large cavern like this, its not uncommon to hear the stories of travelers who have been ambushed by the rarer types of subterranean Enthipids who inhabit this region. Reports mention the primal nature of these Enthipids, more aggressive than their surface counterparts, whose carapace blended naturally with the muted navy rock which covered the surfaces of the underground caverns beneath the city.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Listening in, he could not hear the sounds of any movement in the distance. He focused his eyes instead, looking at the village out in the distance. It was surprisingly dark for a village, though small patches of light hinted active civilization. The vibrancy of the cavern flowers around him seemed all the more apparent as a glow appeared to permeate the air around them. It was pollen, he realized – a strange pollen which glowed faintly under the shadow of the cavern. It clung to Vera, though it seemed not to bother her. It was then, as he engrossed himself in the environment, that he heard a small faint sound ringing in the distance, coming from the direction of the village. It thrummed with what sounded like a deep wind, stopping and starting again.

  As he tried to focus his ears to hear, he heard something that sounded almost like a word.

  “Lost…”

  Just as his mind jumped from the sound of that strange wind, he smelled an empty scent, just like before. The pollen around him was being pushed away from him, like he was repelling it somehow. Then he looked up, ready to ask Vera if she noticed the same thing, until he noticed the pollen was moving away from her as well.

  Something clicked for him just then. A theory. That this strange pollen was avoiding the pair for a reason. All options considered, there could only be one thing.

  Johrei.

  As he stepped into the ray of light, shining down from the cavern ceiling – its expanse covering several acres – his eyes blinded momentarily.

  In that moment, his other senses sharpened, just quick enough for him to hear the sound of a blade swiping through the air.

  Almost on instinct, he jumped back, evading the strange weapon which Vera now held in her hand.

  Reina’s Songbird, Aio concluded, was herself a hunter.

  And she was out for blood.

  *****

  Calli had begun to race towards The Guardian’s Village in the distance. Zip-lining with her glide rifle, she informed her squad of hunters that she would go ahead of them, telling each of them to rendezvous at the specified coordinates that Gravel provided.

  Please be safe Aio, she thought.

  As she blazed through the cavern walls, puncturing bullets into pillars of limestone, the expanse of land began to broaden. The cavern itself seemed to be getting larger and larger and before she knew it, she was gliding across a large cavern structure with a large entryway at the bottom. Taking that entrance apparently leads a direct path to the Guardian’s Village.

  Strangely, at the extreme heigh Calli was at right now, gliding near the ceiling of the cavern, she could see multiple mouths to other parts of the cavern near the top. She had a feeling that she knew what created those holes, but chose to ignore it for now, firing a bullet at the ground near the cavern entrance and gliding down the created Johrei trail until she landed at its mouth.

  I wish I had brought more fitting equipment for a long trek like this, Calli thought, as she began to sprint forward.

  She ran for what felt like hours, passing through expanses of darkness mitigated only by the occasional torch which was placed alongside the walls by travelers. This still wasn’t enough lighting, so Calli fumbled through her pocket-space seeing if she could find something useful. She did have quite a few items, although most of them expended quite a bit of Johrei to use and she didn’t have those kinds of extraneous resources on her at the moment.

  She pulled out a small orb which Alyx made, meant to be used as markers for underground traversal. These beacons, although dim, did have a wide range and lit up the caverns just enough for Calli to see the general paths in front of her. As she moved forward, she began to hear a low rumble somewhere in the distance. It sounded like movement of some kind, and Calli, not wanting to deal with that, pushed herself even further.

  Finally, she arrived at the exit to this portion of the cavern. Standing atop a high vantage point, she saw in the distance a bright beam of light shine down from the cavern ceiling. A large flower field bloomed against the sunlight, covering a radius which was large enough to encompass an entire town. In the distance she saw what looked to be man-made habitation of some kind, though it wasn’t very clear behind the light. That could be the village.

  As she pulled her glide rifle out, ready to fire a bullet down to the ground, she noticed two dark spots in the distance. Pulling out a scope from her pocket-space, she connected it to her gun, aiming down the sights to see the silhouettes of a woman holding up a strange weapon above another figure knocked down on the ground…

  Aio.