October, Year 483
Forest of Lacau
State of Nicia
North

Philip was cold, stiff and hearing strange things, or at least he thought he was.

"Wake, up, wake up," the voices chanted and droned.

At times they called out his name in alluring tones and seductive whispers. Other times his name was replaced with screaming and bawling then anguish and rage.

He had no clue where he was or what the sounds were, he just knew that he was still in pain—and that was good since it meant he wasn't dead, yet.

He was alive for now but a part of him knew things wouldn't stay that way for long.

Maybe it was the dense and undescribable darkness that clung to his soul and pulled it into an abyss of thick black that clued him in to that fact. Or the way it felt like he was swimming through mud, the viscosity poking at his lungs till he fought painfully for air, yet somehow could still breathe.

Philip forced his eyes open, gasping for breath as he scanned the area around him. Shock filled his brain with a sort of drunken euphoria when he realized that it was the darkness.

He just floated there with no sense of up and down, no hint of light to aid his vision as he forced panic out of him mind, giving no time for the crippling emotion to manifest as he stuck to the side of logic.

Maybe this is just a dream. He started paddling up, imagining that he was at the bottom of some lake as he cupped his hands and stroked his arms.

He kicked his legs to propel his weighty body forward only to realize that he was sinking and now upsidedown.

The dark world around him suddenly oriented itself in the wrongest way possible and he was sent tumbling everywhere, spinning out of control as the abyss dragged him every which way. Strangely enough, all he could think about was how he didn't feel like throwing up.

This isn't real.

As the thought floated through his mind Philip stopped rolling around, in fact it seemed like nothing had happened. The sea of black was stable and he was still where he was—at the center of it all. This event only served to cement the fact that he was trapped away from reality, in his thinking.

"Okay then." He decided not to try to move again, opting for the safer option of just floating aimlessly. He wasn't even sure if he was moving. For a dream, the entire scenario seemed strangely complex.

Struck with an idea, he raised his hands to his face then felt his entire body. No body parts appeared to be missing but he didn't know if that fact should make him grateful or worried. His goggles, mask, gun and knife were gone, solidifying the idea that he was stuck in an illusion created by his own morbid mind.

"Oh shit."

It was only now that Philip realized that he couldn't feel his left hand. Suddenly, his head started to pound and throb painfully as he began to remember what had happened.

Issac, the creatures. . . he could hear the voices again, a clear echo in his head and all around him.

"Philip!" They called and he winced, the black ooze around him did nothing to damper the volume of the voices; it seemed to amplify them.

But this time he recognized the voice, as impossible as it was.

"Miss Dawn?"

Philip knew that there was shock visible on his face but he couldn't help it. Why was he hearing her voice? Was this now an hallucination instead of a weird dream?

"What are you doing in my head?" He chose to ask instead, taking in a deep breath from the abyss and narrowing his eyes at the spot in front of him as if doing so would so would help him visualize her.

"Does it really matter?" Another voice asked back, it was filled humor and he easily imagined a sneer on glossy red lips.

Philip frowned as the image slowly faded from his mind and glared into the darkness as the voice floated past his ears. "Who are you?"

"I'm Rhea Lee," was the reply.

"Yes, like that explains everything." He scowled then turned his head to the other side, as though shifting away from the foreign voice would make it dissipate. "Miss Dawn, what is happening. Where am I?"

"We should be asking you that, Tyndale." Dawn said and the darkness seemed to recede slowly. "You are far from your group and your Chain is turned off."

Philip quickly briefed her on what had happened, about the mutated animals and the way the fog reacted to the laser guns and horses. He stayed silent through the part about his relationship with Issac and how he had bit himself, but mentioned the wound on his hand, sure that she was aware of his body's stats.

There was so little that could be hidden when technology made it possible to be aware of almost everything about a person, most of that technology—Philip was sure—was made by the Cipher Squad's leader herself.

"Golden eyed beasts?" Dawn's excited laugh danced around him as she spoke. "You've just made my day, Philip! Your blood pressure is low and your left had appears to be frozen, we can fix all that from here but we need you to do something for us."

Us? She seemed more cheerful than before, though Philip thought that was impossible seeing how much enthusiasm she had already.

He really hoped she wasn't happy just because he was now the perfect guinea pig for the testing of her mission suit. In the meantime, he tried not to think about his supposedly 'frozen' arm; he wondered if it was still attached to his body.

"Also," before he could ask, she continued, "can we use your memory of this mission for research?"

"I'm already on it!" Rhea Lee's voice contained excitement as she cut off Philip's reply while it was still in his throat. He couldn't help but try to guess who she was and what position she held in the government for her to be so close to Dawn Draekon.

"Better be, Lee," Dawn said, apparently she didn't need Philip's consent or opinion on the matter before proceeding, "those will be important later. Now Philip, it's all up to you, what are you going to do next?"

"What do you want me to do?" Respect tinged his tone as his training as a messenger kicked in and his mind finally registered the fact that he was talking to the most powerful woman in the world.

"I need you to find a person," the professor started, "if you succeed I'll give you clearance to take the simulation test for the rank of Major."

"Major?" Philip's voice croaked and he forgot all about the darkness that clung to him like a second skin. If he passed that test then he would be promoted levels higher than what he could have ever achieved on his own. "That's one rank above Issac."

"Yes."

"I'll do it," he announced without hesitation. "Who do you want me to find?"

"Elton Yong, he is a man who lives in the town that you're to search. When you find him take him to Mount Roya, forget about regrouping with the other teams at the capital."

Philip was startled. "What happened to the capital?"

"It's currently under attack," this time it was Rhea Lee who answered, her tone nonchalant. "If you could bring back some samples of the animals—particularly the eyes—that would be great!" She suggested like she was ordering food at a drive-through.

"What about the other soldiers, are any of them close enough to lend us assistance?" Philip asked and ignored Rhea Lee's comment, pushing the fact that the capital had been attacked to the back of his mind. It wasn't his problem to deal with at the moment and the two women didn't seem interested in cluing him in on the situation.

"Philip," Dawn spoke slowly, pity audible in her voice, "your group is the only one still in the field, the others had zero complications and have returned. I'm sorry, but you're on your own."

"Dee, I'm ready to wake him up." Rhea Lee said suddenly, before he could come up with a reply. As she spoke he felt a jolt in his brain, something he couldn't place stirring within him.

"Goodbye Philip," the two voices merged into one as the abyss was dressed in rainbow colors and suddenly he could see something other than black.

"Good luck," she said. He could no longer tell which one.

He gasped, feeling choked as he greedily swallowed in air only to receive nothing. None of the sweet relieve that came with escaping suffocation filled his lungs.

Philip found himself twisting and turning again until he was squeezed out of existence with a loud and deafening pop.

His body shot up, trembling in a thrilling mix of fear, pain and shock as he opened his eyes—even though he could have sworn that he had never closed them. The first thing he saw was Issac's sweaty and masked face hovering over his. He also noticed the astonishment in Issac's baby blue eyes as their gazes met.

"I am so glad you are awake," the captain fell to one knee and dropped the ray-blade that he held, "I was just about to cut off your arm."

Philip was too stunned to check on the arm that had been allegedly encased in ice and too tired to reply the disturbing statement, he just watched in a daze as his onetime best friend collapsed on him and lost consciousness.

"I should have stayed in that damned abyss!" He groaned, unable to carry the sudden weight on top of him, and fell back to the forest floor.

Several growls danced around he and Issac as the moonlight bathing the area dimmed. Philip was too exhausted to wonder how he got into a forest when he has been on a road, all he could focus on were the golden eyes that glanced at him with menacing glares.

"I'm so screwed."

Life had towed him into an abyss of golden gazes and the creatures that owned those fierce looks hated him, he was sure.

"If I survive this I swear I'm turning vegan!" Philip announced to no one when a massive paw stretched out of the row of trees and slowly inched towards him.

"Where's my gun?" he muttered to himself and looked around, despite the fact that he could barely lift a finger.

Just as he finished speaking, the beast pounced.

†

More surprises! Phil is alive for now. Dawn and Rhea Lee appeared in his dreams and he now has a mission to find Elton. I wonder how that's going to work out.

Question of the chapter

Which chapter would you like to read next? Corey's? Dawn's? Or Esau's?