Diven followed the trail of footprints. It was simple, going in a specific direction, never turning or stopping, and evenly spaced. The owner of the steps seemed to know where he was going.
Either that or Diven was reading too much into what he saw.
Despite his best efforts, his mind kept coming back to Kheiron. He could have been sitting under the shade of the plane trees, quietly enjoying the afternoon and listening to the music of the waves crashing down on the shores.
He could have been learning to master his sun attunement under the tender and proud gaze of his parents. Finally breaking the shame they had endured due to their weak bloodlines.
He could have been playing with his friends as they explored their newfound skills and facets. He would have seen Zoe take her first flight as she discovered her sky magic, Philon become a pillar of the Kheironite army, Sebastian explore the untamed wilds and come back with trophies from mythical beasts.
He could have fallen in love as he attended the classes meant for young Awakened citizens.
Well, he was getting ahead of himself. The first three he could understand, but Diven wasn’t one to fall in love so easily. No, it definitely didn’t appeal to him. Furthermore, he was too busy with his facets and adventures.
If only his mind stopped taking him back there.
It was all a blur.
Time, distance, nothing made sense anymore. Had Diven walked for an hour? Two hours? One day? Five minutes?
He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know.
All he had to do was follow the steps.
One by one.
Step by step.
It was easy.
He didn’t need to think.
Very easy. Everyone knew how to walk. Almost everyone. Sure, some people could not walk. And there were babies and the elderly. But Diven was neither of those. He was a healthy thirteen-year-old who could walk very well.
Very well.
One foot after the other.
Step by step.
Following the trail of footprints.
It didn’t matter how long it was. Walking was easy and he could do it.
He would do it.
He would walk all the way to the shores of the Great Sea. To Kheiron where he would walk the road leading to the acropolis and the temple of the sun. To the Leios clan where he would show them why they had been so, so mistaken when they exiled him.
Diven slapped himself. He needed to stop thinking. It wasn’t good for him.
Walking was good for him.
It was taking him closer to the rift’s exit from which he would find his way back home…
No, wait, take a deep breath.
Only walking, no thinking.
It was possible the steps could be some kind of trap but his new skill didn’t react at all. It made him fairly sure that wasn’t the case.
Well, more or less, anyway.
The skill was only Basic Rank and level 1, Trap Detection wouldn’t detect everything.
He wasn’t quite sure how the skill worked. A problem he wouldn’t have if he could consult someone else. But of course, Diven had a cursed bloodline, so he wasn’t allowed to see other people. He had to do everything by himself.
He had to be alone.
All alone.
He had to walk.
Follow the footprints.
Step by step.
Stop thinking.
Walk.
Just walk.
At some point, he had started counting his steps. It was a way to keep himself focused and not completely lose touch with reality.
There was no alternative. He had to follow the footprints.
Hunger, thirst, exhaustion.
His feet hurt and so did his eyes. The constant whiteness was straining, forcing him to close his eyes from time to time.
A dangerous thing to do in a rift.
But Diven couldn’t see a thing anyway, so he made the call to rest his eyes to be ready when something finally showed itself.
Step by step.
He advanced, hoping he was going somewhere.
He was at around 365 steps when he lost count.
His mind was hazy. He didn’t want to focus. He was too tired.
There was no point in counting. He would arrive when the time came, or he would crumble while trying.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Thinking was bad.
Walking was good. He was good at walking. He could do it with his eyes closed. Sure, he would fall from time to time but it was fine.
Diven was good at walking.
He wasn’t good at thinking. He wasn’t good at seeing. He could not see anything.
Because his eyes were closed.
He opened his eyes.
Light, white, snow, fog, footprints. There was nothing to see.
He closed his eyes.
Not seeing is good. Walking is good.
But he needed to see. He needed to follow the footprints. To follow the footprints, he needed to see them.
Or, he could feel them.
Crouching down, his eyes still closed, Diven caressed the surface of the snow looking for a footprint.
There it was.
But, he couldn’t walk while touching the floor with his hands…
Crawl. Walking is good, but crawling is also good.
It took a little longer. He was a little slower. Fine, it was more than a little. However, he didn’t have to see!
This was good. Right?
No?
No, it wasn’t good, his empty stomach told him.
No, you have to hurry, his dry throat reminded him.
No, you absolute imbecile, his mind screamed at him through the veil.
Shut up!
Stomach and throat he could listen to. But he wouldn’t accept a comment from his stupid mind.
Still, with 2 to 1 in favor of walking, he stood up and reluctantly opened his eyes.
It was painful. The white made his head throb with the biggest headache he ever experienced.
He rubbed his eyes.
There was something.
In front of him, distant and yet close, hidden behind the mist, a dark rectangular shape.
His mind sharpened, returning to him.
Diven repressed a cough as he tried his best to be silent.
He turned his head left and right. This was embarrassing. He was glad there was nobody here to see him.
That said, he didn’t forget he was following tracks. And those were headed directly for the thing in the mist.
Slowly, he crept closer and the indistinct object revealed itself to him.
It was a rock. A very bare, black rock shaped somewhat like a rectangle. It was devoid of snow, and most importantly, fog steered clear of it. There was a ten-meter wide zone with visibility around the stone.
The steps moved behind the rock to the right, but afraid that their owner would be there, Diven decided to go around it from the left. It would take longer but hopefully, his approach would be unseen.
Arriving next to the stone, Diven put a hand on it and noticed it was warm. Relatively warm. It wasn’t hot by any means but it was at least warm enough to explain the absence of snow.
The rock formation wasn’t huge. It only took a minute for him to pass it by its left side. When he turned around the corner, Diven was stunned.
Leaning against the wall were three people dressed in warm fur clothing that gave them a round appearance, their faces obstructed by an ivory mask that prevented him from seeing their expression. They wore large, oversized gloves making it look as if they had the hands of giants.
One of them had wings with feathers as black as stone. Probably from a skill since the others didn’t have them.
They turned toward him yet didn’t move to attack.
Still, there was a pressure exuding from them. A weight in their presence that could only be explained by a skill above the Basic Rank. Evolved Rank? Ascended Rank? Diven couldn’t tell, but he knew he was in over his head.
Those “people” were probably not even human. He was in a rift, those had to be its denizens.
The leftmost figure stood up from his relaxed position and gestured for Diven to approach. The gesture was accompanied by a guttural sound that felt like a word but, if it was, Diven didn’t recognize the language.
Having accepted he couldn’t possibly escape from them, Diven moved closer to the trio. He was apprehensive. But, he was also dead tired, and hungry and wanted a way out of this rift.
As far as he could tell, those three masked figures were his best bet.
From up close, he noticed their masks were all carved differently. The leftmost one had a feline mask, the middle one a dog, and the rightmost figure was that of a bird, which was fitting as it was the winged one.
“Hello,” Diven tentatively greeted with a deep nod of his head.
“Hello, little one,” The feline-masked figure greeted in perfect Ameian, even purer than the Kheironite dialect.
“It is unexpected for someone so weak to enter our rift,” The dog continued.
The bird only nodded in agreement.
“You are from an Ameian city?” Diven couldn’t help but ask.
“We are not,” The feline answered.
“We merely speak the language.” The dog clarified. “Speaking many languages is a necessity for rift guardians.”
The bird nodded along.
“Rift guardians?” Diven was confused.
“Us,” The feline commented.
“Indeed, we are rift guardians. Some higher-level rifts have guardians, we decide the trials and ensure the explorers entering the rift abide by our rules,” the dog explained.
This was something Diven had never heard of. As far as he was told, rifts were natural places. Sure there could be sentient humanoids in them, but it didn’t make them guardians of the rift. But Diven had to admit he wasn’t the most learned person out there.
“So, could you let me out of here? I entered by accident. I’ve never even been in a basic rift before."
“Of course,” The feline said.
“But you need to clear the rift,” The dog added.
“This is the rule,” The feline added.
Diven felt his heart drop. He had no confidence in completing this rift, “I don’t think I can.”
“Don’t worry about it,” The dog answered. “While I can’t claim it will be easy, you will find our requirements to be adapted to your power. In finding us, you already passed our first test: you followed our tracks and didn’t give up despite harsh conditions. Although the cold had little effect on you, this is already not too bad.”
“The cold? I don’t think it was very cold.”
“He doesn’t know,” the feline said.
“It’s for you to figure out,” the dog said, declining to explain.
Although he was curious, Diven didn’t ask. He was finally seeing some hope. If the three masked figures didn’t lie, this rift should be clearable.
“Bird, please present our guest with his task,” Dog said.
The bird-masked person who had been silent until then turned toward him and revealed a female voice.
“Diven Leios of Kheiron. 13 years old. Rot Heart. Hoplite. Survivor. Rotten Sun. Spear. Shield. Spear Fishing. Trap Detection.” Bird listed his entire status, leaving Diven feeling exposed. She was seeing through him with such ease he couldn’t comprehend how it was possible.
Although the elders of the clan had a way to see the bloodlines for the awakening ceremony. So he guessed it wasn’t too far-fetched. Anyway, it was happening in front of his eyes so he could only believe it.
“We require you to complete three facets before you are allowed to exit our rift. The reward is: you will be fed until you clear the rift. Beware, monsters will now roam the rift.”
“Three facets? That’s a lot,” Diven said, frowning. It would take a very long time.
“And yet, that is what we ask of you,” Dog said.
“You are in luck, we are accepting your Facet of the Survivor as one of them,” Feline added.
“With the choices already available to you, we should see some interesting things appear,” Dog said.
Diven looked at the three masked figures. Their expressions were inscrutable. They were right, he didn’t have a choice. If they fed him, it wasn’t too bad of a deal. Completing facets was something he wanted after all.
He didn’t like the idea of staying in the foggy, snowy rift too long but…
He sighed.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Can I take you up on your offer for food?”
“Of course.” Dog said, handing him a gourd of water and a handful of dried fish.
Diven was getting tired of eating fish all the time but he wasn’t in a position to be picky. Grabbing the offered food, he sat next to the warm stone and ate.
Soon after, he fell asleep.