Diven stood panting over the body of the invisible panther as it slowly lost its camouflage. Even in death, the beast remained hard to see, its white fur blending perfectly with the snow.
His heart was beating wildly, his mind gradually wrapping itself around what had just happened. If his skillset hadn’t been tailored precisely for this kind of encounter… He wouldn’t even know what had happened to him.
Swallowing at the thought of such a dangerous predator roaming the valley, he grew even more cautious than he already was. This new valley wasn’t like the previous one. Further away from the guardian’s stone, it was wilder and home to different breeds of monsters. He wasn’t naïve enough to think he would only encounter monsters he countered as perfectly as this unfortunate panther.
Considering he had likely just killed the biggest danger in the vicinity, he figured other monsters would take some time to return to this area. He took this as an opportunity to rest. A lot had happened since his last real break on the other side of the mountain. He was growing tired.
Staying close to the panther’s corpse to deter potential predators—he thought that the sight of the dangerous beast would make other monsters hesitate—Diven started to set up camp.
There wasn’t much to do. He didn’t have his camping gear. All he could do was light a small fire and reheat his leftover frostcrawler spearfish meat. He was growing tired of the fishy taste and longed for a more filling meal.
Lentils. Now that he was away from home, he missed the tastes he took for granted. Even such basic food was completely out of reach here.
But he had to make do with what he had.
Once he was done eating, he forced himself to use Echoes of the Rot Heart to heal the few wounds the pinecone explosions had inflicted. Now that he was using his newly transformed skill in a quieter environment, he had the mental capacity to examine it more.
The vision was as disgusting as he remembered. His nostrils filled with a stench that wouldn’t go away, his skin slick and uncomfortable from the humidity. As he opened his eyes, he noticed his wounds had leaked a viscous green liquid, staining his legs and arms.
His wounds were rotting. Yet they were healing.
As strange as it was, Diven wasn’t in the mood to think about it. He regretted staining the snow next to his fire, but what was done was done. He couldn’t afford to move now. He needed the rest.
Diven slept well, uninterrupted.
With the lack of sun in the rift, he had no idea how long. But when he woke up, he felt very well-rested.
The panther's corpse was already far along its rotting process, prompting Diven to get up and move on immediately. It didn’t mean much considering Diven’s attunement with the rot.
His goal was still the river that flowed in the lower reaches of the valley, but he was a lot more reserved. The last day had cemented into his mind that the place was dangerous and he couldn’t afford to attract more attention than he could handle.
His steps were as silent as they could be, helped by the snow’s dampening effect on the sound. He was aware of the trail he was leaving behind him, but he had no way to avoid it. Walking in snow left obvious footprints. But he couldn’t fly and while there should be a skill to hide his tracks, he didn’t have it.
There was no snow in Kheiron, he couldn’t have it. To be fair, even if he had the chance, he wouldn’t have mastered hiding his tracks in snow. He hadn’t planned on ending up in this rift.
Fortunately, he didn’t encounter any more trouble before he reached the river. The water wasn’t frozen, the current was fast and violent, creating a loud rumbling noise that drowned out all other sounds.
Diven walked downstream, looking for a calmer place where he could stop for a while. He wanted to fish, maybe set up a camp from which he could explore the valley. He wasn’t sure about his goals now, but he felt that it was an opportune time to stop wandering aimlessly and consider his options.Stolen novel; please report.
His Facet of the Exile was progressing slowly. The branch in his inner garden was growing, but it was growing more slowly than he was used to with his previous facets. He wasn’t sure if the progress was consistent or if his actions affected it. With no reliable way to tell time, it was hard to say. But it was progressing. As long as it did, it was fine. It was taking him closer to the day he would be allowed to leave the rift.
Still, it was a long way off. Even if he did complete it, the guardians had required him to complete three facets before letting him go. Who knew how long the third one would take? Who knew what the third one would be?
Bird. Only she knew. And even then, it was possible she hadn’t made a choice, waiting to see if he would unlock more options.
This river, unlike the one in the Wildlands, was easy to follow. Vegetation wasn’t dense enough to hinder his progress, and as he advanced, he saw the river bed slowly widen, revealing sand banks covered in tall withered grass.
Diven wondered how they came to be. After all, there didn’t seem to be seasons in the rift. Since it was always winter, vegetation should be able to survive in the cold environment.
Grass shouldn’t wither. It shouldn’t be there at all.
But it didn’t matter. He wasn’t about to study botany just to understand this yellow, dried-out grass. What he needed to do was to find a nice spot to camp for a few days.
He needed somewhere protected from the elements, hidden from predators, and close to a fishing spot. So far, he hadn’t found any place matching his criteria. The first stretch of the river was too narrow, and devoid of fish. The grassy wetland had fish but it was too windy.
He needed to walk further.
Traversing the grass was a breeze, so Diven was able to make fast progress. On the way, he encountered many animals. Mostly birds that fished the river. Some of them were quite large, but they didn’t bother him so he let them be.
Sometimes, he scared a deer or a fox away.
Apparently, not every living being in the rift was out to get him. Yet, Diven wasn’t going to let himself be lulled into a false sense of security.
His attention constantly raised, ready to escape at any sign of trouble, he continued walking down the river.
The large sand banks turned into rocks on the far side of the river as it curved along the base of a mountain. He hadn’t reached the end of the valley—rather, the river had curved toward the base of a cliff.
It was promising, the rugged terrain seemed more in line with what he had in mind for his base camp.
Keeping an eye on both sides of the stream to make sure he didn’t miss anything, Diven made his way to the flatter shore.
Soon after, Diven noticed the entrance to a cavern on the opposite bank of the river. Intrigued, he walked back to a section he had noticed earlier where the water was shallow. He crossed it, stepping from rock to rock to avoid getting his feet wet, and walked down the river.
This side of the river being rockier, he had to move slowly, but he was hooked by the idea of exploring a cavern. Soon, he found what he was looking for and stepped into the dark entrance.
While the entrance was large, it soon turned into a cramped tunnel forcing Diven to crouch if he wanted to move forward. Fearing the cave would be smaller than expected, he shrunk himself and moved into the tunnel.
He couldn’t see anything—an issue he hadn’t considered before deciding to explore the cavern. He waited patiently for his eyes to get used to the darkness.
A thin strip of light streamed from the entrance behind him, so he slowly started to see better. The cave continued into a narrow tunnel which he decided to follow.
Being in such a confined, dark space wasn’t exactly Diven’s idea of fun. It was uncomfortable, and a little nerve-wracking as he could very well be entering the lair of a dangerous beast.
At the thought, Diven stopped.
He might have stumbled into a dangerous beast’s lair. Not a big one, the tunnel was too small for something like a bear to sneak in. But a panther, like the invisible one he fought the day before, he could imagine it.
Yet, Trap Detection was silent.
Should he keep exploring?
Crouching in the dark, Diven considered his options. He could turn back. It was the safe solution. At least, in the short term. He would have to find another spot to make his camp.
If he stayed, he ran the risk of coming face to face with a monster. On the other hand, if there was no monster, this was the perfect spot to hide in.
Was it worth the risk?
Diven didn’t know. But he decided to take it. It wasn’t a carefully calculated choice. No, here, in the darkness of a cavern where he couldn’t stand upright, he followed his intuition.
He knew he would regret turning back. So he didn’t.
After squeezing past a few turns, it started getting brighter. After a few more twists and turns, Diven found himself in a room where dim light passed through a hole in the roof.
The center of the room was covered in pine needles, likely fallen from the hole above., and the walls were covered in an assortment of dusty items.
But Diven wasn’t looking at that; his attention was taken by the skeleton lying in a corner of the room.
There was no monster here.
It was clearly a human skeleton.
And it wore the clothes of a Kheironite clan.