Time Elapsed: 05:22:06

Severance dangled from a tree branch. His arms shook as he struggled to pull himself up. With much wheezing, he just managed to touch his chin to the branch. He dropped immediately, hanging like a wet rag.

"Eight," he gasped.

He waited a few seconds, but the much-wanted notification failed to appear. Just how many horrid chin-ups did he have to do to gain a point in Strength? He'd already done thirty push-ups to no avail.

"Aaargh!" He strained to pull himself up once more.

Below him, Vast sprawled on his side, legs and tail stretched out. While Severance was working himself to the bone, the vastlhidan was taking a leisurely nap. His ears twitched occasionally, showing that even in his relaxed state, he was still paying attention to his surroundings.

Severance had the thought that if he'd fell, at least he'd have a comfy pillow to break his fall.

Finally, he bumped his chin against rough bark. His entire body trembled with effort as he stubbornly held himself there, waiting for that stupid notification. He waited... and waited... sweat trickling down the side of his face.

An inhuman groan burst free, even as he clenched his teeth and bore through the pain. This stupid System and its stupid-!

+1 Strength

Congratulations, Severance! You have reached Level 45.
You have gained: Sanctum

Renewed energy flooded him and he let go with a victorious cry. He dropped, but instead of landing on soft fur, he hit hard ground. The impact shuddered up his shins and knees.

"Oof!"

Disgruntled, he gave Vast a sidelong glare. The beast had conveniently gotten up and moved out of the way. It was almost as if he didn't want to be used as a cushion. The traitor.

"System, Skills."

The window appeared, and Severance scrolled down to the latest skill. It seemed he didn't have a choice in skill this time, but that was fine with him. In the last set of raid runs, the level 42 skill Flowing Step had turned out to be a huge boon. When paired with Restoring Step, he got a nice 30%hp heal. The best part was, since they were melee skills, there was no cast time. It made the healing life a lot easier.

But this one... this was even more impressive.

Sanctum – Ability. Increases healing for all by 50%, increases fortitude for all by 10%. 10 sec. duration. 10 min. cool down

Were all level 40 skills going to be this powerful? A healing buff and a fortitude buff? It was both exciting and worrisome. If they were giving out skills like this, then maybe there were going to be places where he really needed them.

Like this secret Tower dungeon.

That killed some of his excitement. Swiping the window closed, Severance decided to return to the clan House.

Not even two seconds after he arrived in the courtyard, a stunning young woman marched up to him. She got close enough for it to be uncomfortable and looked him right in the eyes.

"Severance," she said coolly.

Her short, bobbed hair was in disarray, like she'd just come out of a nice nap. He doubted that was the cause though. She seemed far too tense to have been resting.

"Zillah," he greeted politely.

He was forced to tuck his chin against his chest just so he could hold her gaze properly. She was not a tall person by any means. In fact, she looked delicate. But that was all a lie; she was the farthest thing from a delicate young lady.

Zillah wasn't in the mood for niceties, for she immediately commanded, "You need to come with me, right now."

She spun sharply and headed for the courtyard's gates. Her brisk pace made it clear that she was not going to wait.

Baffled, Severance looked down at Vast. Sadly, the beast didn't seem to have any clue as to what was going on, either. Was she asking for his help? Or was she mad at him and wanted to take him out for target practice?

With Zillah, the second option was more likely. She was too much like Batin in that regard.

Despite his better judgment, Severance trotted after her and caught up in a few long strides.

"What's going on?"

She didn't answer, but only sped up, leading him deeper into the surrounding forest.

Awesome, he thought. How heartwarming to know that with the Veiled, he'd never have to worry about having a dull day.

Zillah moved easily through the trees, weaving through them as if she'd come this way a thousand times. But as far as Severance could see, there was no trail in this section. No people or animals had come through here recently. She looked like she knew where she was going, however, so he didn't question.

It didn't take long for the trees to swallow them up entirely. When he looked back, there was no sign of the House.

A little worried, he asked, "Where are we going?"

Zillah stopped. Her dark eyes panned one way than another, before turning and looking back the way they had come. Finally, her attention fell on Vast. The vastlhidan looked completely relaxed as he stood close to Severance.

"This should be good enough," she said. She walked over to Severance, careful to keep him between her and Vast. The Veiled knew well what the beast was capable of. "I'm going to teleport us."

"To where?"

"You remember that coded report you gave us? Well, it gave us directions to a place. That's where we're going." She reached out, slow and careful, before gingerly touching his arm. Vast had gone alert, watching her every movement. He rumbled warningly.

"You found a place?" Baffled, Severance grabbed a handful of fur. All of the Veiled were known to Vast by now, and the beast knew they were no threat. Still, Vast didn't like when people got handsy.

White fuzz swept across Severance's vision like a scattering of snow. The ground fell away, the pit of his stomach dropped, and he was yanked somewhere else. Next thing he knew, he was standing on sand with an unbearable heat pressing down on him.

Actually, it wasn't sand, but more like a gray dust. When he dug in the toe of his boot, the ground gave way like a fine powder. Clouds of it lifted with even the slightest disturbance.

He knelt and ran his fingertips through it. It was gritty and nowhere as soft as it looked. He lifted his gaze and saw dead, flat ground as far as the eye could see. Even the sky was gray, like someone had leeched all the blue out of it. Here and there, poking out of the fine dust, were blackened heaps. It was impossible to tell what they were, only that they appeared to be moments away from disintegrating into ash.

Severance rose. "This is in the Lost Lands?"

"Yes," Zillah said curtly. She didn't spare any further explanation, for she headed off towards a large dark shape sticking out of the ground. "This way."

The silence was so absolute that he could hear the way her boots pressed into the dirt with the faintest of whispers. Soft puffs of dust rose behind her like gentle sighs. When he glanced behind, he saw footprints stretching out behind him. Zillah's, Vast's paw prints, and his own, so faint that they seemed to fade away even as he watched.

The sight made him uncomfortable.

He'd been to the sandy desert ruins in the Lost Lands, and he'd been to the grim volcanic wasteland outside the robot raid entrance. And now here, the barren gray emptiness. All three places had something in common: they were all dead and unnaturally quiet. There were no signs of life. Not even wind touched them.

Interestingly enough, they also had direct teleport access. That was, he guessed, because of the ruins that he saw in each place. At one point, these had been towns, maybe even cities.

The structure that Zillah headed for looked like a large well made out of square stones. There was a rope and wood ladder attached to one side. It looked fairly new compared to the grim surroundings, and it had been dropped into the well's opening.

Severance frowned. Zillah must have brought the ladder before, because there was no way it had survived all this time in such good condition. Not when everything else appeared to be so decayed.

Vast gave a low whine. He didn't seem to like it any more than Severance did.

"Down here," Zillah said.

She stopped before the well, and turned to look at him. Her expression was closed off, guarded, and he couldn't find a single hint as to what her intentions were. But in the past few days, he'd learned she wasn't as cold and distant as she projected. Nor was she reckless.

She'd brought him here for a reason.

He neared the well. Instantly, he reeled back, one hand flying to cover his mouth and nose.

"What's that smell?"

Zillah grimly met his eyes. "Mouna's down there. There's someone that needs healing."

Mouna's in there? He looked at the dark hole. The stench coming from there was indescribable. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced before, not even when the dumpster of food scraps in the alley behind The Grubbery sat in the hot sun for nearly a week.

Severance didn't want to go in there. But if Mouna was there, and with someone that needed help, then there was no other option. He braced himself and grabbed the ladder, but not after looking towards Vast. He silently wished the beast could go with him, but Vast was keeping his distance from the well.

The air was already warm, but it seemed to increase several degrees as he descended. So did the smell. It made his eyes water. He breathed shallowly through his mouth, though that did very little. He could practically taste it on his tongue. It took everything he had not to gag.

When he reached the bottom, maybe fifteen feet down, the ground squelched beneath his feet. He cringed, trying not to think about what he stood on, and turned towards a pale blue light. It came from a nearby lantern, and though it didn't seem very bright, it managed to illuminate a large area.

He saw two dark figures crouched by the lantern. And then he saw what lay all around. His eyes grew wide and his heart nearly stuttered to a stop.

This place wasn't a well, but an underground storage. The room was square, built out of heavy concrete-like bricks. At one time, it might have been used to store food. But now? It had a different, chilling purpose.

Chains hung from the walls. They ended in metal rings that were fastened tightly around the necks of a dozen prisoners, who either were propped up against the wall or flopped over onto the floor. None of them moved. They were far past deceased, their flesh decaying and the fluids seeping across the floor. The bodies were horribly misshapen, some twisted and revealing jagged bone where limbs should have been. The more he looked, the less human they appeared.

The smell, he realized in horror, was that of death.

Severance shuddered once, every fiber of his being rejecting what he saw. He turned back to the ladder and grabbed it weakly. He didn't even know what he was supposed to do with this. His body wanted to puke, his very being wanted to flee, and his mind struggled to make sense of the horrid scene.

Beneath his grip, the ladder shook. Zillah carefully descended. He had to stand back to give her room, but he couldn't bring himself to let go of the rope. The ladder was the way out of this nightmare. If he let go, he was afraid it would vanish.

Zillah's face was pale when she looked at him, but she was far more composed than he. "Severance. There."

She pointed, and very unwillingly, he looked where she indicated: the lantern, and the two huddling figures. One of them moved, lifting its face, and he froze. Mouna. Her face was just as pale as Zillah's. She held someone on her lap, her arms wrapped tight around them.

But he hardly noticed the second person. His attention was glued to Mouna's face, because her gaze looked so hollow, so stricken that it wrenched at him. It was wrong. She shouldn't look like that. Not here, not in this place, not ever.

He let go of the ladder. Without really being aware of what he was doing, he walked across the slimy ground, stepping over one body, and around another before he reached her. Later, he wouldn't even remember doing so. All he'd remember was that awful look on her face.

"Mouna," he whispered, crouching before her. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes glistened, and she gave a minute shake of the head. He reached out, touched her shoulder. He felt helpless. What could he say? What could he even do?

Mouna's dark eyes lowered to the person in her arms. Her fingers twitched, catching his attention.

Help her.

That was when he registered the person in her arms. He inhaled sharply. The world fell away and all he could think was: this was a person?!