Day: 1020

Days Left: 4460

Lives Saved: 5

Corinna stood at the border between the forest and the Raining Marshes. Dex, Lili, and Rin had followed her, wondering what the young woman had planned as he had marked the trees along the way. She examined the ground near the border and looked around, her face scrunched up as if calculating something.

"Are you going to tell us the plan?" asked Rin with a slightly amused smile. "We can't exactly help if we don't know what we're doing."

Corinna paused, smiling in guilt as she had almost forgotten that they were even there, too focused on the plan forming in her mind. She retrieved her whiteboard and wrote 'river'.

"But we do not have any spades," said Lili. "We only have a gardening trowel."

Corinna shook her head, still smiling as she showed her mask to Lili, its effervescent blue glow recharged from the failed portal escape.

Dex glanced at the sky in the Raining Marshes, where the portal would be above the nymph-infested pool. He then looked to Corinna, who gave him a reassuring nod that she was fine, though he could see her occasionally stare off into the distance at the closed portal.

After taking a long breath and preparing herself, Corinna donned her mask and walked to the edge of the forest, the rain on the other side pelting down before her. A light shone around the lines of the mask and spread, coating Corinna's body in a blue glow as it transformed her into the celestial. The celestial being reached out an arm to the rain, the water hissing and evaporating on impact. She recoiled from the sting, noting not to connect the Raining Marshes to the trench she was about to build just yet.

The three onlookers continued to watch, with Rin and Dex questioning how Corinna would create a river as they did not know the celestial's full capabilities like Lili did. The royal bodyguard smirked as she realised Corinna's plan but was prepared to rush to get water if a forest fire started.

Once she had chosen the perfect spot, the celestial knelt on the ground like a professional sprinter about to start a race. The grass beneath her began to sizzle, her celestial glowing body scorching it to raw earth. She sucked in a breath, closed her eyes, and pictured herself not moving forward or up but down.

The others backed away, covering their eyes as the celestial blinked into a bright light before eventually fading, her body no longer glowing with constellations whilst her power recharged, having dug down a few inches into the earth.

Corinna grinned as she saw the progress, not as much as she had hoped, but it meant that her idea was not impossible. She stared at the path before her, at the trees she had marked to guide her to the camp. It would take at least a week to complete it, but soon they would have a river nearby to collect water, no longer having to hike back and forth with so few containers. And more water meant more that they could construct.

We don't need the Land of the Lost, thought Corinna. We can build everything ourselves just as our ancestors did.

Day: 1071

Taking another trudging step, Henry Best almost collapsed to the ground, the heat sweating out all his energy, yet he still pressed on through the desert wasteland. The ground beneath him was a dry, cracked beige sandstone that slightly burned his feet. He considered using his mask and transforming into the salamander, the creature being immune to fire and heat; however, Henry had already used his mask for so much of the journey through the empty desert that he could not risk turning into the salamander permanently from overuse. No, he thought, best to endure it rather than lose his mind to the monster completely.

He would be out of this desert for a few more days. But, if he continued taking so many breaks, he would be stuck in this region for longer.

Henry retrieved a metal canister from his bag, about to open it when he heard the sploshing from inside and how little water remained. Had he really drank that much already? This was his last water bottle, and he had to make it last a few more days. The young man winced, resisting the temptation to chug all of it in one go and stashed it back in his bag. Hopefully, there was some form of water resource in this desert. It wouldn't be fun for the viewers if all the prisoners were weak from dehydration. But, again, Henry was confused and a bit scared from this sudden knowledge. He knew so much about the Eternal Abyss and its inner workings and did not possess the memories of how he had learned any of it. All he had were pages he had supposedly written explaining it, though so many of these pages he had gotten lost one way or the other on this journey, and thus so much of his past.

But the vital page was still about his second cousin Corinna Warren. Even if he lost his past, perhaps she would know. And if not, they were still family, though neither could remember the other with the Abyss' curse.

Rereading the passage about his second cousin and how close they were like siblings resolved Henry's doubts in his mind, how he wanted to give up and sit down forever. But he had to find her; it was the only thing he had here.

"Just a few more days," Henry groaned, picking up the pace. "And I'll be out of this desert."

The flat desert eventually transformed into unequal rocky surfaces, forcing Henry to climb and exert even more of his waning stamina. He was about to curse and give up, to fall asleep out in the open from exhaustion, when he saw a tall, slender shape in the distance.

"A water stalk!" Henry cried out, recognising the flora unique to the Eternal Abyss. It was a thin plant with black waxy skin, almost resembling a tree. 

Rushing over to the water stalk, Henry retrieved his metal canister and then pricked a hole in the plant with his dagger. At first, there was nothing, then a trickle of water spilt out. Henry caught it in his container until he instead drank it directly, his dire thirst ruling over the logic of rationing the water.

Much to his delight, two other water stalks were nearby, so he began filling up all his containers with water. Finally, he down, resting his back against a rock, unable to stop smiling at this victory. If there were more water stalks along the way, he should make it out of the desert without becoming too dehydrated. Whilst in the Eternal Abyss, no one can die, but being dehydrated was still not exactly great, especially as it leaves you so exhausted and vulnerable to attack.

There was a sound of something scuffling, clumps of rock clattering across the ground.

Henry jolted, cradling the water bottle close to his chest protectively.

A high-pitched chorus of laughter echoed through the desert.

Henry shot to his feet, donning his salamander mask. "Who's there!" He turned and looked up, seeing a pack of five hyenas towering above on the high rock; their bodies and mischievous laughter may have been like hyenas; however, their faces were horrifically combined with their human selves, the monster and the human intertwined.

The pack of hyenas split apart, circling Henry from above the cliff, their shadows casting him in the cold darkness, their shrill cackling seeming to come from everywhere all at once, reverberating.

Henry calmed himself, remembering that these hyenas were actually humans transformed by masks and could be reasoned with. Unless, of course, they had all lost their minds, then, in that case, they were, in fact, more dangerous than wild animals. He tried to focus on the human parts of the hyenas, their eyes, but that made them seem only more monstrous and feral.

"I mean no harm to you," Henry called out, his eyes darting between the five hyenas that circled him. "I just want to travel through here and out of the desert. I don't want to start a fight, and I doubt you do either. How about we just let each other pass?" Though Henry wanted nothing more than peace, his hand still instinctively hovered near his fire salamander mask.

One of the hyenas stopped in its menacing pacing, cocking its head to the side as if to study Henry for a moment. "You have trespassed into our territory," it said with a guttural hiss.

"I am sorry," Henry stuttered. "I was not aware that anyone owned this land. If I had, then I would not have gone through here." He swallowed, attempting to clear his dry throat. "I will leave at once and go the long way around-"

"Too late!" the hyenas snarled, baring its sharp canines. "You have stolen from our water stalks."

The other hyenas cackled as they continued to stalk around, their human features of their faces seeming to be more monstrous than the hyena parts of them.

"I did not know they belonged to someone," said Henry, his voice trailing off as he saw a symbol branded into the side of the water stalk, a symbol of an eye. "I'm sorry, I didn't see your mark; I-" Henry raised his metal canister. "I can give it back. I have the water I'd taken right here. I shall return it, and then we can put this all beside-"

The hyenas' shrill laughter drowned Henry's voice; some of their mouths salivated as they watched him, surrounding him, edging closer.

"No." The hyena leader grinned broadly. "Trespassers and thieves will not go unpunished."

Henry grabbed his mask, fumbling to put it against his face as the four subordinate hyenas lept down from the cliff and charged at him. One bit into his arm, its teeth embedded deep into his flesh, pulling his hand away from his mask. He whipped his arm out with enough force to fling the hyena off, but its teeth left a gauge in his forearm, shredded skin and oozing blood. The other three hyenas Henry kicked away and bludgeoned them with his walking stick on the nose, leaving them disoreneitned for enough time to don his mask properly.

A light shone around the edges of the mask and soon enveloped him, shrinking and morphing the young man's body into a large salamander. Though he was bigger than the realistic-sized hyenas in his monster form, Henry was still outnumbered.

With the coat of fire protecting the salamander, the hyenas were too hesitant to attack, retreating back but still snarling as they surrounded him.

"We can end this now," said Henry, his voice crackly in his salamander form, like spitting embers. "We do not have to fight. Let us all just calm down and talk this through." He kept his head raised to appear confident, though, in truth, his heart could not be beating any faster. "How about it?" Henry addressed this to the pack's leader, the hyena that remained above the cliffs.

The hyena's human eyes narrowed, hissing through its canines. "No," it growled. "You have stolen from us. We will not go soft now and let you go."

"Here!" The salamander knocked the three water containers out of his bag, doing his best not to set his bag and its contents on fire from his touch. "I will return it like nothing had happened, and then I'll leave!"

The head hyena grinned, its human eyes holding a semblance of a wild animal. "No. We will never let you go."

The other four hyenas charged at Henry, no longer fearful of the salamander's fire, as their leader bounded down from the cliff and joined the fight. They swiped at the fire lizard with their claws, careful not to get burned, retreating if they caught on fire, leaving deep cuts into the salamander's rock-like scales.

It wasn't enough to break through his scales, to penetrate his flesh and deal damage, but with every strike, they were getting closer to hurting him. The leader was incredibly reckless, throwing caution to the wind as it bit into one of his legs, digging its teeth straight through the scales.

The salamander cried out in a hissing yelp. Henry hesitated, remembering previous encounters with other prisoners and the lengths he had to go just to survive.

No, please, not again, Henry pleaded, trying to devise some plan to escape from this fight.

He didn't want to hurt anyone, not even after these hyenas; these prisoners refused his offer of peace.

And yet, he knew he could win if he just played on their level, attacking to maim and kill rather than self-preservation.

His second-cousin Corinna came into his mind. Though he had no idea who she looked like or her personality, the whole journey was for her to find family in this wasteland prison. Everything he had endured to this point would be for nothing if he were defeated here if he was beaten just because he tried to upkeep his morals when no one else was.

The lead hyena continued to bite down on the salamander's front leg, dragging him to the ground and enduring the flames despite them charring its fur. The other hyenas gained more courage in their attacks, inspired by seeing their leader take the fire.

Henry winced, remembering that Corinna was out there somewhere, that he had to see her. The salamander took a large breath in, its veins underneath the scales of its throat lighting up in red, and then he opened his jaw wide, spewing out a jet of fire.

The head hyena screeched, a human scream instead of a hyena one, as the fire consumed its entire being. The other four retreated, howling in fear of the salamander.

This was his opportunity to make a run for, and yet Henry froze, seeing the hyena writhe in pain from the fire, rolling in the sand to put it out.

I did that...

I...

A light blinked on the head hyena's face as it transformed back into a human, the mask dropping to the ground. The woman rose, her eyes fixed on Henry, part of her face and shoulder red and burnt, wisps of smoke hissing from her skin.

She spat out blood, red spraying the sand, and then wiped her mouth clean with the back of her hand. "Get him," she snarled.

The other four hyenas hesitated, having witnessed their leader be set on fire to the point where she had to detransform. They looked to the salamander, then to each other as if none wanted to go first.

"I said get him!" their leader yelled.

With no hesitation, the four hyenas charged at Henry with full force this time.

The salamander took a deep breath, just breathing out another jet of fire in time as one of the hyenas reached him and slashed him on the side of his face.

The fire spread across the sand, creating a flame barrier between Henry and his assailants. Finally, with the hyenas too frightened of the fire, the salamander escaped, limping from its injuries.

Just get away as far as you, Henry. Just get-

He screeched as his flame-coated body was snuffed out instantly, fizzing and hissing. Henry glanced back and saw that the woman had braved through the barrier of flames and had poured all three of Henry's water canisters onto the salamander. Without his fire, Henry's energy immediately depleted, a wave of exhaustion hitting him as he collapsed to the ground, his eyes drifting to close. The last thing he saw was the smug grin on the woman's face.

Day: 1072

Henry's eyes slowly opened, followed by a splitting headache that felt like his entire skull was fractured in twain. The exhaustion from before still clung to him. He realised why as he was still in his salamander form; however, his usual fire that coated his scaled body was extinguished by a water bottle hanging above him, the lid with several small holes dripping down on him, keeping the fire and Henry sedated.

He seemed to be held prisoner in a small tent, his four legs and tail bound in rope and his mouth clamped shut to prevent him from breathing fire again. But he wasn't the only prisoner; in a small glass lantern nearby was a pixie, as tall as someone's hand, sobbing inside, her wings thinner than paper, glimmering in a kaldoisop of colours, giving out a sweet tinkling sound whenever they moved.

The entrance to the tent opened, and in walked the woman from before, the leader of the hyena pack. She appeared middle-aged, not much older than Henry himself, with short brunette hair, parts of it burned off on the right side of her scalp, though she had done her best to cover it.

With that smug grin, the woman stepped closer and crouched before the salamander. "Now," she purred. "You'll want to make this easy for yourself. Detransform now, or I will forcibly take your mask off." Her hand hovered the salamander's snout, inching closer. "I don't know if you've seen what happens if you take someone else's mask off whilst they are transformed." She chuckled. "But it's not pretty."

Henry knew what would happen. He had no memories of it, but his imagination gave him the answer. As he used to work for the Eternal Abyss management, it was liekly he had seen footage of what happened.

Knowing that there was nothing else he could do in this situation, Henry reluctantly transformed into a human; his salamander mask fell to the ground. The ropes binding his previous form's back legs all fell with nothing to restrict, as did the muzzle, but the two constraining his front legs were now loose on his wrists. Before Henry could think of escaping, the woman pinned him down to the ground.

"Our leader has returned," she hushed in Henry's ear. "He wants to meet you. And you'll soon see why you should never steal from us."

The woman called out, and two people, a man and a woman, walked into the tent, helping to restrain Henry as the woman picked up the fire salamander mask. Henry felt as if he recognised the two people and then saw the hyena masks on their person, remembering their human features that had mixed monstrously in their wild animal form.

Once Henry's hands had been adequately tied together, the man and the woman hauled him up to his feet and dragged him towards the tent's exit, whilst the leader of the pack followed behind, holding the salamander mask mockingly in victory.

The pixie in the lantern cage pressed her hands against the glass, appearing to cry out as she watched Henry be dragged out.