Fissures of Solitude

The path they had already walked had left invisible scars on Kaerith and Seryne. Not on their skin or exoskeleton, but in their minds—subtle erosion, like water slowly sculpting stone. The world around them remained a grotesque distortion of reality, but now the shock of the first vision had faded. Only the continuous wear of existing in a place that rejected the very idea of life remained.

The fractured horizon no longer seemed like a distant limit; it was a constant scar at the edge of their perception, a reminder that they were treading through a land where time and space were prisoners of something far older and crueler than they could comprehend. The ground beneath their feet, a mosaic of black stone and fissures glowing like exposed veins, pulsed occasionally with a faint light, emitting a muffled sound—almost like the echo of a sigh buried beneath tons of silence.

The corrupted bird was still up there. Always there. Its deformed wings cut through the cracked sky in lazy circles, but there was intention in those turns. This was not mere flight. It was watching. Hunting. The predator sensed something—not their bodies, perhaps, but the faint trail of their souls. Even so, Seryne seemed to bend the very logic of fate to keep them hidden, manipulating invisible threads that made the creature's gaze slide over them without truly seeing.

The silence between them was broken by the familiar, acidic, and irritating voice inside Kaerith's mind.

— This new friend of yours is going to be your downfall, and you know it. — The symbiote spoke with the melodic tone of someone repeating a well-known refrain. — You literally know this, and yet you follow her. That pathetic fear of being alone is going to get you nowhere, Kaerith. Listen to me while there's still time.

Kaerith kept her gaze fixed on the path ahead, ignoring the uncomfortable presence in her mind. Every word from the symbiote was a slow-turning blade, but she was already used to those knives. The problem wasn't what it said. The problem was how right it was.

She knew this situation was strange. She knew that following Seryne was like walking on the edge of a cliff, blindfolded, with the wind nudging her ever so slightly. But what else could she do? Since the moment she had awakened in that black desert, surrounded by strange faces and a sky filled with indifferent stars, the only constant in her life had been the need to survive.

Survive. That was all she knew how to do. But she was tired.

Kaerith wanted more. She wanted to live. She wanted to feel something beyond the cold comfort of survival. She wanted joy. She wanted purpose. She wanted… anything other than just another day spent fighting to exist.

The symbiote chuckled in her mind, a sound that was a mix of buzzing and a muffled laugh.

— Stop dreaming. You already have me. You'll never be alone again. Why keep fearing it? It's not like I'm that bad. I helped you survive the worst hell of your life. You have to admit it.

Kaerith clenched her jaw, anger bubbling beneath the surface. She responded mentally, her voice a sharp whisper.

— Then why don't you actually help me? Instead of just reminding me of what I already know, why don't you do something useful? Aren't you a cosmic being connected to an infinite hive? With access to knowledge beyond my comprehension? Then prove it. Help. Do something other than just talk.

The symbiote was preparing a response when the world around them reacted.

A fissure in the ground cracked open with a dry snap, releasing a burst of hot vapor that rose in slow, dense spirals. The air thickened, saturated with a metallic and bitter scent. Seryne reacted before Kaerith could even process what was happening. She ripped the blindfold from her eyes, which unraveled and grew as if driven by its own will, extending to envelop them both in a protective cocoon of black and crimson fabric.

Seryne's empty eyes shone with an opaque light, reflecting something Kaerith couldn't comprehend.

— I don't mean to intrude, but your mental vibrations are too loud. — Seryne's voice cut through the dense air with an unsettling serenity. — I don't know if that can attract corrupted beings in this place. Be more careful.

Kaerith blinked, surprised.

— You… you can hear us? — The question escaped before she could filter the shock in her voice.

Seryne smiled, a small, almost imperceptible gesture, and covered her eyes once more.

— Not exactly. But I can sense the psychic frequencies. Your mind is emanating two distinct waves. That's impossible to ignore.

Before Kaerith could process that information, a purple slime oozed from a crack in her exoskeleton, forming a grotesque mouth with uneven teeth and a sarcastic grin.

— Don't interfere, you stinking human. — The symbiote spoke aloud now, its voice no longer confined to Kaerith's mind.

Kaerith reacted instantly, slamming the goo with force. The symbiote recoiled, dissolving back into her body with a wet squelch.

— I apologize for that, Seryne. — Kaerith sighed, frustrated. — He's not exactly… polite to humans.

Seryne didn't respond directly. She simply adjusted the blindfold over her eyes and changed the subject.

— We'll move through these fissures until we reach the base of those formations. This way, we avoid the dangers above. — She pointed toward a series of cracks that snaked across the terrain, some so deep they seemed like the world had tried to tear itself apart from the inside. — At the top, besides being able to see what caused all this, I'll be closer to the rifts in the sky. If I can analyze them, I might find coordinates to our point of origin. Maybe even locate our companions.

She paused before continuing, her voice growing more serious.

— I won't lie to you, Kaerith. This will be difficult. Aside from that corrupted bird, I see at least three extreme threats along the way. And there's something worse… — She turned to a particularly deep fissure, where a liquid darkness seemed to drip, yet never touched the ground. — There is a true darkness here. I don't know what it is, but it feels… alive.

Kaerith stared at the black liquid, a shiver running down her spine.

— What do you think it is?

Seryne shook her head slowly.

— I can only imagine that what Zeta 4 said about the desert applies even more here. This place… is cursed.

Silence fell between them again as they continued forward, but this time it wasn't an uncomfortable void. It was a necessary pause. The kind of silence that exists between soldiers marching toward a battle they cannot avoid.

And despite everything, Kaerith felt something strange growing inside her.

It wasn't fear.

It wasn't anger.

It was hope.