Long hours of walking later found the Dorn Collective cresting the top of a dune to a landscape of flat topped mesas, spread out across the horizon. The sudden break in what had grown to be a familiar landscape was jarring to Oskar. There was a light smell of sulfur in the air, adding the Fox told him what to expect, but the sheer scale of this world sometimes meant he forgot to take that into account when he imagined things he’d yet to see in person.

  That meant that when he finally laid eyes on the dozens of red, orange, and yellow striped mesas on the darkening horizon, Oskar realized he had severely underestimated the sheer size and scale of what he was in for.

  He’d thought the Great Collective was a large natural feature, but in both height and breadth, it would have been lost among what he was currently staring at.

  Okay, I was not expecting this at all. Why don’t people live here?

  // Well, I haven’t been here and we’re not close enough for me to scan, but you better believe there are good reasons that only the Kobolds ever lived around here. You should ask Fox… anything that makes life a little easier would have people fighting over it. At least until someone strong enough took charge, so it stands to reason there was something here that did the opposite, otherwise the Kobold survivors wouldn’t have chosen this place. //

  Turning his head slightly to keep the wind from blowing straight into his ear, he leaned in and asked Fox.

  “What made the Crocs not claim this place for their own?”

  Beside him, Fox smiled wickedly. “Bugs. Crocos do not like bugs.”

  Calling the Crocodillian people “Croco” instead of Croc was a carryover of living Little Luth’s life in a different time, and even Oskar used the term occasionally. It was a small thing, but small or not, it was a constant reminder that his small friend had lived through some very real trials and had come out the other side of those trials as a very dangerous Kobold.

  “Bugs? Bugs kept the Crocs away?”

  She shrugged. “It is a fair amount of hiking to live here, and there are no Oases or long term Waysprings,” she hesitated a second, thinking, “and unlike Gramm’s mesa, there are not walls to protect those atop the mesas from the wind and suns.”

  She grinned, gave him a look that raised more than a few questions, and said, “But I can confidently say it is mostly the bugs.”

  “You’re not going to explain that statement to me, are you?”

  “I am not, Oskar. You will have to wait and see. But worry not, Oskar. This is my childhood home,” she leaned in and winked at him. “I will protect you.”

  “Gee, thanks, mom.”

  ***

  Paranoid, more so than he wanted Fox to know about, Oskar repeatedly scanned and extended his senses in every direction as they drew closer to the nearest mesa. There was life everywhere, a little more than usual, but nothing that should warrant the smirk on Fox’s face.

  As they neared the mesa, its yellow streaks appeared to be glowing, even in the harsh, but fading light. The feeling of life around them grew increasingly perplexing. The sand beneath them grew more firm, and eventually there was only rock underfoot.

  Oskar’s footsteps felt heavy on the rock. Loud in the desert’s silence.

  “We should likely get topside.”

  Exasperated and on edge, Oskar immediately snapped, “Why should we get topside, Fox, huh? Why?”

  “It is as I told you, Oskar. Bugs,” she said sweetly.

  “Well, then, by all means, take the lead.”

  Penny jogged up beside Oskar. She cared little for ground she couldn’t hide in, but additionally, she’d picked up on Oskar’s nervousness or was having her own. Luckily, whatever game Fox was playing didn’t involve leaving the rest of them to be eaten by whatever lived here, because she quickly made her way around the mesa to what appeared to be a cliff overlooking a sheer drop. She found a low handhold, though, and used it to swing around and out of sight.

  Around the corner, she called out, “This way.”

  Yeah, I figured.

  Oskar followed but was worried about Erik’s ability to navigate the upcoming climb after seeing Fox swing around. As he peeked around and over the edge, though, it flattened to a much more open climb that, angled inward, didn’t seem like it would be super obvious to anyone looking from below.

  “So, Penny. How do you wanna do this? Looks like it’s sand down there, so I don’t think you’re in any real danger.”

  She walked carefully to the edge and looked down, and then satisfied, she did something Oskar had never seen her do before. She looked at him with those soft eyes and sat up on her back legs, copper scaled arms reaching up at him. Before he could stop himself, he leaned over and scooped her up as she carefully wrapped her arms around his neck.

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  Oh. My. God. She’s so cute.

  He lifted her with an unnecessary grunt. She probably weighed over a hundred pounds after her evolution, but Oskar was beyond human capability at this point, and the effort was objectively not grunt worthy.

  Oskar took a quick peek at his physical stats, but they’d not changed since he last checked.

  Mind D+ Rank

  Body D Peak Rank

  Spirit D Rank

  Still at Peak D rank, but if I was at 90% to C Rank before, I’ve gotta be at 99%, now. My body is almost humming with power.

  He stood there squeezing Penny for a minute until Touwon pointedly cleared his throat and took a wary glance around. He thought Erik was going to call him a dumbass, but when he looked back at his brother and mouthed, “Dude, are you seeing this?!” his brother was smiling and winked his blue eye at him.

  Oskar let out a sigh, fighting back the cuteness aggression that was telling him to squeeze her as hard as he could. That would probably hurt both of them, so instead he handed his spear to Touwon, and reached down, grabbing the handhold. He carefully worked his way around with Penny trying her best to be still as she held on. Reluctantly, he put Penny down and reached out blindly for his spear, trying to avoid the streaks of yellow sulfur and ignore the smell.

  Instead, he felt Sara latch onto his arm painfully, and he had to force himself not to jerk his arm back. The big cat looked more than a little offended at the handling as he slowly pulled his arm back around the edge, and Oskar suspected Touwon was in for a stern silent treatment until he gave her something she enjoyed more than being dramatic. Sara made her way over Oskar’s shoulder and onto his bag. The big cat turned around and nuzzled into Oskar’s neck, finally resting her head on his shoulder and ignoring Penny who was staring daggers up at her.

  This cat is petty.

  // I can respect it. //

  The second time Oskar reached out, he felt his brother’s thin, sinewy shoulder. He lowered his hand to Erik’s back to stabilize him as he came around, but as always, Erik was stronger than he looked and needed no help.

  With a scrunched nose, Erik said, “Man you gotta warn somebody before you crack one like that. I had my mouth open and everything.”

  “I feel like that’s not the first time Shrek has been referenced. Plus, I think that was brimstone, this looks like super sulfur or something,” Oskar said with a laugh.

  “What can I say? It’s my comfort movie, so close enough is good enough.”

  Oskar shook his head, and Erik moved past as Penny reluctantly stopped mean mugging Sara to give him room, and Oskar saw the butt of his spear come around next.

  Touwon came around with the same dexterity and familiarity as Fox, and they were soon making a slow climb around the mesa. The mesa was wide enough that by the time they’d made it all the way around to the cliff-side again, they were over halfway up. The wind grew noticeably more powerful as they climbed.

  Oskar watched the colors of the currents slowly blend and separate as they slowed. He looked out at the sky, following Erik’s gaze.

  His brother pointed out an enormous cloud in the distance that was definitely not the cloud whale Oskar had seen with Fox and Touwon but reminded them of it. They recounted the tale to Erik, who apparently was in deep thought or conversation with his own PUB if his distracted mumbling was any indication.

  Erik’s PUB had mostly behaved now that it had accepted Oskar wasn’t a robot wannabe. Oskar hoped Erik was developing a friendship with his PUB the same way Oskar had with his, but didn’t linger long on the thought as they finished the last half rotation. Shortly, they carefully made their way on top of the mesa and into the steady wind.

  Fox crawled forward toward the edge of the mesa, facing the red sun, which was now over halfway behind the horizon, painting the sky a swirl of reds, blues, and purples. The air currents danced with one another gracefully across the sky in a way entirely unique to this place. Oskar could feel Sora singing to him.

  The power was so strong here that Oskar could almost see it with his eyes closed, but he was instead afraid to blink and miss some secret the vision might offer him. The Sora he called to himself felt almost playful, and he sat in the peace of good company and the power he could feel in this place.

  As the massive red sun dipped below the distant horizon, Oskar heard a tapping sound that matched perfectly with the almost musical playfulness of Sora. The tapping lasted a few seconds, as perfectly timed as a metronome, and a far more unnerving purr followed.

  Tik tik tik tik tik tik tik tik purrrr…

  And then the sound repeated. He looked around quickly, seeing everyone but Fox and Touwon do the same. Fox had a sly grin on her face, which only calmed Oskar’s fear a little. He followed her mischievous emerald gaze down to the top of the mesa just below them.

  He stared for a few seconds as the unnerving purring continued, and then, just as the tik tik tik sound returned he saw them, and felt like a fool for not seeing them before. They must have been almost invisible in the sunlight, but the darker blue and purple light just barely shimmered on red tinted legs, tap tap tapping on the rock below.

  Oskar froze as his eyes followed those tapping legs to a bulbous, red silk covered body that was easily the size of Penny- who was currently leaning so hard against him to make him glad he was sitting down.

  Spiders. Huge spiders.

  Oskar jerked his head around to make sure there were none on their own mesa, thankful that, for some reason, they were alone on this mesa. At the quick motion, Sara jumped off his back and let out a small huff, which he ignored.

  He’d never been afraid of spiders, really, but then again, he’d never met red ones that were big enough to steal a pit bull out of someone’s yard before. The longer he looked, the more he saw. There were dozens of the spiders on that mesa alone, and as he looked around, listening to the chorus of sound, he saw that some mesas- ones with the most yellow like their own- were empty.

  // Okay, I feel like I should point out that spiders are not technically bugs. //

  Shut your digital mouth, Oskar replied with a nervous smile as he double-checked their surroundings.

  As the next round of tik tik tik finally faded, the spiders let out nets of silk that caught the steady wind flowing over the mesa. Colors danced in the webs as Sora was called by some magic the spiders possessed, maybe even the song they were currently humming… because one by one, as the purring intensified, the spiders took to the sky.

  It was terrifying and beautiful. An experience Oskar could not have imagined, and he was glad to have seen it. He was glad to see Sora used instinctually by such incredible, dangerous looking creatures.

  He was especially glad they were high enough that none of the spiders flew directly overhead. Erik scrambled forward and grabbed Sara, who was near the edge and looked poised to pounce after one spider that flew just below them.

  Oskar heard Erik mutter “Damn cat. You trying to kill yourself?” but Oskar didn’t feel any disappointment from the cat through the bond. The content look on the cat’s face made Oskar suspect she was playing a rather odd joke, and had gotten exactly what she wanted out of it. Attention and cuddles.

  Damn cat, indeed.