Chapter 8 - Rotten Fruits

Matthew and the other Messenger sped through the cavern, relying on memory and the markers he had placed to avoid treacherous ground. He pushed to reach the safe point in twelve minutes, pausing at corners to check for anything ahead before continuing.

This is exactly why I didn't want to be a Messenger. He gritted his teeth as he vaulted over a ledge. We not only have to move quickly but also pass the same place twice. The chances of encountering something are way higher.

The other Messenger behind him kept up easily. He seemed fairly athletic—just forgetful.

Finally, they reached the large clearing and made it back to the safe point. They took their time getting to the hidden den, catching their breath from the sprint.

Inside, Matthew noted their progress in harvesting the beast's body. The fifth group's Loadbearers gave them a mock salute as they returned. Meanwhile, the Navigator was making a detailed sketch of the beast's internal organs, carefully measuring where they congregated—likely marking weak points.

The fifth's Messenger waved them over, where the third and fourth Messengers lounged impatiently, tapping the ground. One sighed as they finally arrived.

"About fucking time. How far did you guys make it?"

The second Messenger scowled. "We found a whole new fucking biome. And fucking zombies. That's how far we went."

The other three Messengers exchanged skeptical glances before shrugging. The fifth Messenger clapped his hands together.

"First order of business—we found spirit essence… I think."

The four Messengers sat up at the reveal of such precious information.The fourth Messenger stuttered, "You left the safe point?"

"No," the fifth Messenger scoffed. "It's the safest place out here. Why would we even—"

"Then where did you find spirit essence?"

The fifth Messenger clicked his tongue. "If you'd let me speak for a couple of seconds, I'd tell you—we found it in the body of the monster outside."

All four turned toward the beast's corpse outside the den, its brown and green form being dissected. Matthew sighed internally, his suspicions confirmed. Killing these creatures is essential to leveling up.

The fifth Messenger pulled out two glowing blue square crystals. Strange markings shifted on their surfaces, the light inside fluctuating like something alive."We found two. They were in an organ John—our Navigator—guessed was probably its heart."

The group marveled at the crystals before the second Messenger asked, "you didn't use it?"

The fifth Messenger scoffed, looking mildly insulted. "Nope. The first group killed it, so I told them it's your spoils… and the other guy's."

All eyes turned to Matthew.

As the first Messenger, the spirit essence was rightfully his. He briefly considered absorbing it on the spot—the thought was exciting—but logic dictated he should take it back and share it with Brian.

He smiled, brushed his black hair back from his eyes. "Thanks a lot, man. I really appreciate this."

Slipping the essence into his pocket, he turned to the other Messengers, his expression growing solemn.

"With that out of the way, we have a warning to give."

---

They told them about the underground forest and its horrifying inhabitants. The Messengers grimaced as the grotesque details of the parasite were described. Matthew warned them against touching it, and the second Messenger quickly sketched the creature in their notebooks.

The third Messenger gripped his forearm. "We're out of our fucking league here."

"We have to keep going. If we stop now, we'll never get out of here."

"That guy died out there—alone—in pain so vivid it could probably drive a person mad."

"Look, no one's excited to be here," Matthew interjected, "but we have to get the job done."

The third and fourth Messengers then shared their findings. They had ventured into a spiraling cavern, its sandy ground hiding ambush predators that swam beneath the surface. They described monsters camouflaging against walls, waiting silently for prey, and black-and-red lizard-like creatures that could breathe fire.

They had stopped when they couldn't cross the sand and had fled when the fire-breathing lizard arrived. Then they ran into something far worse, the giant ant had come.

The beast—armored like a tank—crushed the lizard effortlessly. Its indomitable shell resisted every attack, and its harrowing mandibles expanded with cracking, popping sounds, like a hydraulic engine under strain. When they snapped shut, the force shook the earth.

The ant, unafraid, burrowed into the sand. The sand-swimming creatures attacked, but they were too small—their strikes, lethal to a human, were nothing to the mighty ant. It tore them from the sand and hurled them onto the rocky outcropping, shattering their bodies on impact.

The group had hidden, barely daring to breathe, as two more ants arrived. They swallowed their prey whole before dragging the remains back to their nest.

The whole time, the group had watched in quiet reverence, stunned by the creatures' raw power.

---

They debated their next move. The general consensus was that the dunes were too dangerous for now, but the fifth Messenger and Matthew were against abandoning the area entirely. The unique materials—and the possibility of wish coins—were too valuable.

Matthew hesitated. Now that he also had spirit essence, he was more reluctant to reveal his wish coins. He ultimately sided with the fifth Messenger, arguing for a slower approach before abandoning the dunes.

The group exited the cave, high-fiving the Loadbearers of the fifth group before freezing mid-conversation.

Something came into the cave. They immediately were on guard, weapons at the ready. Then, six figures emerged from the cave entrance.

None of them lowered their weapons. A different kind of dread settled over them.

The fifth Messenger stepped forward aggressively. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

One of the newcomers—a boy with dewy olive skin—smiled widely. His dark eyes gleamed, and his stringy, curly brown hair rested on his shoulders. He glanced around, impressed.

"You idiots are doing a lot better than expected."

Matthew watched as his group's expressions twisted with rage.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Get the fuck out before we beat the shit out of you!"

"Coming in here with your skinny ass, talking like you know shit—"

"Get the fuck out of here, you wormy fuck."

The olive-skinned boy's smile widened into something deranged.

"Do you numbnuts want to die?"

The fifth Messenger stepped toward him aggressively, crowbar raised—

Then, the boy pulled something from his jacket.

Matthew's breath caught.

Is that a gun?

—

Parker and Asha stalked a fire breather, watching its movements. It had a wife of sorts protecting its eggs, the fire breather coiling together lovingly. Asha cooed, and Parker could only ignore her.

"Its skin and blood is fiery. It's not like it breathes fire, really… Honestly, it's more like spitting a ball of spit on fire. When it hits, the liquid spreads over the target and ignites."

Asha wore her yellow raincoat, a pair of steel-toed boots and thick safety gloves. Yet she drew the beast and its female form, murmuring, "It relies on its sense of smell heavily. Its eyes don't look all that developed. Interesting… Some of the beasts, like the ant and the caterpillar, sense sound heavily. Others, like the sand swimmers, rely on sensing vibrations. No animals that use the natural lighting of the moss."

She continued eagerly, "Killing it won't be simple. We can't use fire bombs like with the sand swimmers, and getting close comes with the risk of being torched. Maybe by baiting the first fire spit… but up close, it's still stronger, and contact with its skin is a death sentence."

Parker, in his usual sweatpants and wool jacket also wore safety gloves in case the fire breather sensed them, listened to her rambling before asking when she slowed down, "What about using water, if we get some?"

Asha turned to him quickly, pointing and grinning. "They live at those ridiculous temperatures, so cooling them down could be a killing blow."

Parker found it unnerving that the girl who had just been so enamored by the mating habits of the fire breather was now planning to so callously kill it. He grabbed her and began to leave. They followed the narrow path the fire breather had taken through the sands—more solid footpaths that wouldn't immediately call the sand swimmers.

They had left behind the group to study the movements of the fire breather while the rest tried to study the sand swimmers. The fire breather preyed on them, so the group believed fire would be extremely effective against the swimmers. They also believed water had to be close by, seeing that these species didn't leave the dune.

When Parker and Asha returned the group was quiet and tense. They watched the corridor that led to the exit warily, Paul, the fourth navigator, came up to them and said, "The wall crawler moved. We think it's following us."

The wall crawler had almost killed the entire fourth. They had been talking when it opened its maw. It could camouflage against walls and was mostly just a mouth—seven slimy tentacles sprung from its dark maw and narrowly caught nothing. Its mouth had many spike-like teeth, its gums were black, and there was a musty, rotten smell coming from its mouth that made them fall over retching. It would have been vomit if their stomachs weren't empty.

Parker turned to the Loadbearers of the group who had gone outside to scout far and ensure there weren't any monsters nearby. Their confirmation was the last thing Parker needed to come to a decision.

Asha pumped her fist. "Time to hunt!"

They prepared the fire bomb and attached a long string to the nylon bag. It was a simple plan—ignite the string, trigger the wall crawler to open its mouth, then throw the nylon bag in and retreat. They all stood at a distance.

Paul said, "I'll definitely get it." He would be the thrower.

The person who would trigger the trap was a Loadbearer from Parker's group. Parker grit his teeth and grasped the hem of his sweatpants hard.

We need to do this. We have no other choice. In the middle of an escape from something, if it triggers while we escape… it'll kill someone.

He waited for what felt like hours until Paul lit the fuse, then nodded to the Loadbearer, who clapped loudly and ran. The wall crawler's mouth opened, throwing tentacles about.

Paul didn't waste a second—he threw the nylon bag into the mouth.

The wall crawler quickly closed its mouth, and the attackers retreated to the others, eyes wild with fear, they hid behind solid rocks taking cursory peeks to the creature planted against the wall. A second passed, and Paul began to say, "It didn't—"

The wall crawler began to jerk violently, its mouth popping open as fire erupted. Brilliant orange light showered the creature. It began to flail around, its tentacles whipping about, brushing the ground carefully before long it began to crawl towards them.

Asha's eyes narrowed as she commanded, "It's tracking us! Get back!"

The creature fell on its back where it had six short powerful legs and then jumped toward them. The fire in its open mouth made it resemble a moving bonfire. The entire group scattered, running frantically away from the beast.

It jumped, its seven tentacles whipping through the air, searching for something to grab. Paul rolled away, narrowly avoiding them, then hurled a rock at the ground, the sharp sound momentarily distracting the creature. Without wasting a second, he turned to his bag and signaled to one of his Loadbearers to fetch another fire bomb.

Parker ran desperately, but it was right behind him followed with short jumps and tracking his scents. Before it could pounce on him, a stone hit it, and a shrill voice screamed, "Over here, you creepy bastard!"

Asha had called it over, and it chased very willingly. She was a lot slower than Parker, so it closed in on her quickly. Even though she took casual looks back at it her eyes focused on where they had dropped their bags

I fucked up. This was a dumb idea. I need to do something—anything.

Parker rushed over, screaming, "Asha! No!"

She jumped onto a pair of bags and pulled out a bone plate shield they had peeled off the caterpillar monster, hiding behind it. It was too heavy for her to pick up, but it worked just fine. The creature's tentacles cracked like whips against the shield, its durability held stubbornly. Then they wrapped around it and pulled both the shield and Asha into its fiery mouth.

Parker paled and fell to his knees. He whispered, horrified, as tears fell down his eyes, "Asha."

I failed. Why did I think anything could be different? …Ah, who the hell did I think I was?

He stood and ran to his bag, looking for Blue Trick, which should have been beside it. His eyes were red, harrowing pits of anger and despair.

Dead. I'll kill you no matter what it takes. You're dead.

As his eyes cleared, he realized Blue Trick was missing. He turned to the monster, which opened its mouth again and fell on its hind feet like it was about to pounce on him—only to crumple to the ground, still.

What? It's not moving… it's dead?

Asha crawled out of the beast's mouth, bleeding from many cuts but grinning nevertheless.

"It couldn't hold on to me. I rubbed oil on my rubber coat the first time I saw it. Creatures that invite you into their stomachs take care to kill, crush, or suffocate their prey before throwing them in there." In her right hand was Blue Trick, covered in blue blood.

She laughed as she stumbled out. "To put it in simple terms—it bit on something a bit sharp."