Hunter had never felt more desperate than he did in that moment. He prided himself on his ability to remain focused in times of conflict. It’s part of what gave him the confidence to attempt to fight these two. But now, with hundreds of pounds sprawled across him, with the mighty strength of this man’s hands focused on one of the most vulnerable parts of his body, Hunter despaired.

  Something mindless took control of him. He flailed, scratching at Dumby’s large head, his arms, and his hands. He punched, pounded, kicked, and croaked. No air could escape. None could enter. His chest spasmed with the effort to breathe, the panic mounted. Dumby cursed Hunter through his broken jaw.

  “YOU HURT RAY. I’LL KILL YOU.”

  Hunter grabbed a handful of hot Seedhan sand and shoved it into Dumby’s right eye. The man closed his eyes shut and yelled, redoubling his efforts to squeeze Hunter’s throat closed. Hunter ground his palm around the eye, and it must have worked because Dumby’s angered screaming grew into something that sounded like an agonized wail. Hunter’s other hand groped around the ground around him, and he felt something round and solid in his hand. Without thinking, he thrust it across Dumby’s temple.

  Dumby’s limbs stiffened, but he also started to fall to the side. Hunter repeated his attack and the man’s grip loosened. The sudden gasping intake of hot air was like a new influx of life. Static and glowing dots had appeared around the edges of his vision, and he did everything he could to take advantage of reversal. He smashed down on Dumby’s head, again and again. The man stopped moving. But Hunter didn’t stop until the man’s head was bloody and misshapen.

  Hunter stopped, and heaved deep, gulping breaths. He sat atop of the Dumby’s unmoving body.

  While Hunter breathed, Dumby did not.

  Hunter fell to the ground beside his fallen enemy. He let himself relax as he continued to gasp for breath. Laying on his back, feeling the hot Seedhan sun, he felt an influx of gratitude. Never had he felt so good about that sun. Nor had he ever thought he’d feel so relieved to feel the heated sand stinging his skin.

  Mere minutes ago, such things might have been taken from him forever.

  But he’d won.

  This time, there was no Peacekeeper watching how it unfolded. There was no one else around, waiting to ruin his victory. The guilt of his earlier victory was long-gone.

  Hunter laughed. All the stress, the panic, the adrenaline, the rush of etherium through his channels, it all rushed out of him. He laughed so hard that he felt like he might cry. His throat hurt from the effort. His lungs burned.

  The laughter slowly ebbed, and so too did most of his nerves. He still shook from the remnant adrenaline and he felt some fatigue. Hunter sat up and considered the man he had just killed, as well as his surroundings.

  There was no one around as far as he could tell. The seedhan wind rustled and whistled against the rocks and small, dead bushes littering the ground in sparse groupings.

  Silence. To Hunter, it was bliss itself. A soft warmth radiated from his chest. Was it pride, he wondered?

  In that moment, it didn’t matter to him what it was. All he wanted to do was enjoy it, so that’s what he did.

  Suddenly Hunter panicked, clutching at his arm, and then sighing in relief when he still felt his ring held snug against his skin under the piece of cloth. It was soaked in sweat and a bit of blood. It was also covered in sand. Hunter took stock of himself. His clothes were torn and filthy. His shirt hung from his torso, almost torn completely in half. He decided to finish the job and tore it off completely.

  Hunter pulled the vial of Uma’s Second Breath out of his storage space, as well as his canteen. He winced as he swallowed the pill. The storage space preserved the waters temperature, and he rejoiced in the cool sensation as it trickled down his throat and into his stomach. He closed the top of the canteen with a satisfied sight.

  He was sure that there would be some pretty significant bruising around his throat later. He was grateful for the pills, as they small boost they’d been giving them during the day had probably been one of the reasons he was still alive.

  After a minute he stood up and with great effort, he dragged Dumby’s body back inside the temple. He left him near the wall, and went to check on Raspy. The man was no longer breathing.

  While he felt some regret, the hint of guilt from before had faded. These men had followed him with ill intent. Could he have afforded to let them take everything? Sure, eventually. But something like this would have happened eventually. Similar things had happened to the others from Skyhold. Some of them would fight. Others could only surrender.

  So far, Hunter’s size had been enough to dissuade most potential attackers. But a man like Dumby would probably have the confidence to try—informed by previous success, no doubt.

  Hunter took a moment to sit. He leaned against a wall, closed his eyes, and breathed deep breaths. The air was slightly cooler in the lobby. He analyzed the regret he ewas feeling. He wished that things had gone differently. Surprsingly, a moment of introspection revealed that he didn’t regret that he’d had to kill them. And the amount of pride he felt at his victory was somewhat troubling.

  There was still some remnant worry that he was going to become like his father. The thought caused his gut to clench, but only slightly. It was a blessing that he was tired enough not to feel any of his emotions too intensely.

  Hunter knew from the moment that he heard those two in the lobby that he wasn’t going to surrender. The calculation wasn’t so cold blooded that he felt nothing. There was a part of his mind that rebelled at the thought that killing them was his only choice, but neither was it an unreasonable and cruel choice. His uncertainty about the natures of his assailants was what gave him pause, and brough forth the regret.

  They might have been slaves to their circumstance, desperate for anything they could find to help them survive another day. They might have been real, cold-blooded murderers who found some pleasure in picking on weaker victims in order to get what they wanted. Either could be true. Assuming the worst about himself and the best about them wasn’t useful to him.

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  So he decided he wouldn’t worry about it. If he had more regretful thoughts, he’d push them away until the timing was appropriate to deal with it. As it was, he still had some work to do and he didn’t want to be dragged down by the weakness that would inevitably come from spiralling negativity.

  When he’d had enough introspection, he brought his attention back to the bodies of his two dead enemies.

  He wondered if he should leave the bodies there. It would be smarter to bring them further into the darkness. It would grab less attention in case anyone found this place while he was gone. After a few mintues had passed and Hunter felt more calm, he figured it was time to do what he’d originally came here to do.

  Two men had died over it, and Hunter had almost died himself. He hoped it was all worth it. After the fight, the darkness of the hallway didn’t seem so bad. Still, he was careful with every step, shuffling his feet across the ground rather than taking full steps. He kept his hands on the opposite wall than he did last time. He figured that if he encountered a room, he’d file it away and come back another time with some form of lighting. As it was, he wouldn’t feel confident with exploring the pitch black space he might encounter.

  The hall way made a sharp right turn. Hunter followed it until it turned left again. He followed the wall until he saw another source of light appear ahead. The etheric signature was growing stronger as he approached, and he knew that whatever he was seeing was what he’d come here for. Hunter bit his lip as he moved forward. Anticipation rising in his breast.

  The light wmuch more dim than the room of murals. Instead of a white glowing wall filled with murals, all he could make out was a dull white dot. As he approached it, it resolved into softly glowing white ring, roughly a foot and a half in diameter. As Hunter neared it, he realized that this was what he’d came here for.

  The closer he got, the more he realized that it wasn’t just the glowing ring which attracted him. The entire wall was giving off a etheric charge.

  “Finally, huh?” He asked, softly feeling the wall. It hummed at his touch, and he could feel that it wasn’t quite as solid as it looked.

  “Interesting.”

  He closed his eyes and tuned into what he was feeling.

  Very familiar. He’d felt a similar charge before, but where? And when?

  He opened his eyes and considered the ring. Now that he was right in front of it, he could see that an indent at the center of the ring was catching the ring’s light. In fact, it looked a lot like the symbol he’d seen in the murals, and the golden extrusion on the dais.

  Hunter tilted his head. The indent in the ring looked like it might be the same size as the symbol on the dais.

  “What if it’s a lock?” he whispered.

  He found the nearest wall and quickly traced his way back to the illuminated hallway. He had made it to the etheric wall without tripping over any hazards, so he was willing to bet that there wouldn’t be any obstructions for him to worry about on the way back.

  Hunter found the hallway and rushed into the room of murals, heading straight to the central dais. Once more he considered the golden symbol at its center. He touched it, felt is cold surface, felt the soft hum and wondered at the sudden brightness. He could feel the etheric wall light up his sixth sense, and he wondered at the function of the dais. Was the wall controlled from here?

  What if it wasn’t just a wall? What if it was more like a door? What if it activated some defense mechanism that would bring the whole place down?

  On second thought, Hunter realized that it wasn’t likely the case. It would be far too dangerous to have that kind of mechanism so readily accesible in a sacred space like a church, temple, or lodge.

  With a sense of curious anticipation warring with sudden caution, he pressed down on the symbol. It clicked, and then slowly rose of its own accord until it extruded an extra few inches. Hunter slowly pulled it out, and as he did, the glow in the walls visibly rushed towards the dais, and into the object. The object didn’t glow, but he could suddenly feel the etherium stored inside of it.

  By the time he had fully extracted the object almost a full foot out from the dais, all the light in the walls had flowed through the dais. Darkness had consumed the room.

  Hunter frowned. He knew the direction he came into the room from, but his sense of direction wasn’t incredibly precise. With a bit more caution than what he’d entered the room with, he slowly walked forward with an outstretched hand. He found a wall and hoped that it was close to the door. Fortunately it was.

  He traced his way back to the main hallway, and once he had, he had no trouble with jogging his way back to the wall. Praying that he hadn’t just wasted his time, Hunter placed the golden, foot-long golden object against what he still hoped was a lock.

  Like a magnet, the golden symbol adhered to the indent at the center of the glowing ring. As soon as the object connected, the glow from the ring increased tenfold. He was forced to squint as the sudden brightness came too fast for his eyes to adjust. He blinked, watching as the energy expanded out in a grid until the entire wall was covered in an alternating checkerboard of glowing white tiles. The object started to recede into the wall, and Hunter let out a whoop of excitement.

  “I knew it was a key!” he said. He wondered what might be revealed behind the wall. Would it open like a door? Maybe it led to a vault. He might find enough loot to keep him and the others from having to work another day outside the camp, they could build themselves up. They could all cultivate to Elemental Initiate, find some allies, and fight their way out of Seedha.

  When the key was fully absorbed into the wall, and only a thin extrusion of gold remained, the tiles of light disappeared. It wasn’t just the light, but the wall itself that disappeared. The remaining tiles lit up, and then they too disappeared, leaving nothing but a thin line of wall remaining, leading to a ring at the center of which held the key.

  The entire wall had been created by etherium. And not like a simple projection of energy. The wall had felt just as solid as any other he’d felt.

  “Incredible,” Hunter whispered, looking into the chamber beyond the key.

  The room must have been only six-hundred square feet. He estimated it was roughly thirty wide, and twenty long. At each side of the room were a column of beds, of a make which looke suprisingly futuristitic. Sleek metal at the base, thinning slightly as they rose for about three feet and then widening again at the top.

  Eight bed. Eight bodies, all softly breathing and attached to the beds with glowing white wires, energy pulsing into the beds to places unknown.

  These weren’t slaves. They weren’t even human. Hunter slowly walked towards the one closest to him, on the right.

  Like the doctor, they might not be human, but they seemed remarkably similar. They had varying skin tones, and rippling ridges along their foreheads. They all felt like they were at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. The one in front of him was quite young. She—and he could only assume that she was a ‘she’, given the similarities in figure to human females—seemed stronger than Hunter himsef. She must be some sort of prodigy.

  These must be Seedhans. He hadn’t seen it before in the murals, but the rippling extrusions along their foreheads was something he thought was just some weird stylistic choice on the part of the artist who made the murals.

  Hunter couldn’t believe it. He’d found survivors.

  The intitial excitement he’d felt had given way to a sense of foreboding dread.

  What in the world was he supposed to do now? A long, high-pitched beep rang out through the room, and the survivors started to breathe a bit deeper. The one in front of him stirred, and Hunter panicked, moving back slightly, watching as all the rest of the figures in the room slowly sat up on their beds. They all seemed groggy, and gently pulled the glowing wires from where they attached to their bodies. He saw one of them, what he assumed was an older woman smile towards the child who Hunter had originally observed.

  But then she froze, confusiong marking her features. Hunter followed her gaze, and saw the youth staring at him in fear, her finger pointed at him, she spoke in a language that sounded to him like a mix between coughing and a sing-song mumbling.

  He held up both hands, hoping that it would be a universal sign of peaceful intentions.

  What the hell was he supposed to do? This was the second first contact situation he’d been a part of, and this time he didn’t have a powerful Asutnahem shield to protect him.

  Dots connected. Hunter’s eyes lit up.

  “Of course,” he whispered.