Astel woke up in a flash as another scream echoed through the cave. He summoned his spear and dashed toward the source of the voice. He was too late once again; the mysterious intruder had already escaped.
Before he could dismiss his spear, another scream filled the air. When he arrived at the scene he saw Sev standing over the victim.
"Another one died…" Sev mumbled quietly as he let go of the dead body. "That's the fourth one in the last two days."
Astel scratched the back of his neck.
Sev stood up and turned to Astel. "You don't seem too bothered about this."
Astel froze as a shiver ran down his spine. 'Am I that obvious?' he thought to himself.
"It's just that I'm so tired, tired of the journey… Of death." He let out a long breath.
Sev stroked his chin. "Is that so?" Lately his suspicion seemed to have only grown.
"Why do you think we haven't been able to catch it yet?" Astel asked out of genuine curiosity.
"No idea, I've never encountered something like this before."
Astel nodded slowly. "Haven't you been here for like seven years?"
Sev shrugged. "This place hides too many secrets. I wouldn't be surprised if I encountered something new even after twenty more."
Walking past Astel he said, "You should rest, tomorrow is a long day. Perhaps the last we have to spend in this cave."
Astel nodded and returned to his tent.
'I have to do something or he's going to realize I'm not the Astel he knows.'
Astel fell deep into thought. 'What would he have done?' Shaking his head he dismissed the thought. 'How can I be more like the other me? Should I pretend to care for the victims? …No, that won't work. Instead, I should just hunt the damn thing so there's no more victims and I don't have to pretend.'
He smiled wryly. 'Yes, that's it, I'll just kill it… But how?'
He thought about setting a trap and waiting nearby, but Sev would probably know that's not something the actual Astel would do. He thought about leaving some bait but wasn't sure about what would lure it. Then it occurred to him—what if he used himself as the bait?
It was a brilliant idea, one so stupid that the actual Astel would've probably thought of it as well.
He stopped in his tracks, turning away from the tent and walking to the outside circle of the campsite. There were only a few lost souls around him, all barely sleeping, terrified of being the next victim.
As soon as they saw Astel they calmed down and quietly whispered prayers. This would've made Astel uncomfortable, but this wasn't really Astel, instead his face grew a wide grin.
'Yes, pray to me mortals, pray to your savior, beg for my strength and protection.'
Finding a good spot Astel laid down on the cold hard stone bracing himself for an uncomfortable night.
Hours flew by with nothing happening. The lost souls were slowly starting to wake up from their sleep, ready to continue journeying toward the mountains. But Astel wasn't satisfied, he wanted his plan to work, he wanted to end this thing once and for all.
Everyone slowly gathered around the center of the camp, where a roaring flame rested. Sev scanned through the heads of everyone present, but he didn't notice one person. He turned to Max and asked,
"Have you seen Astel?"
Max shook his head. "Not since last night's tragedy," his whole body shook at once.
Sev nodded once. "Could you go look for him? It would be nice having him here, so I don't have to repeat myself."
Max nodded enthusiastically. "You can count on me," he blurted out before dashing off.
Still without luck Astel thought about what the victims had in common.
The first was a woman in her twenties or thirties who went deaf because of an inversion. Then there was the doctor who lost his ability to speak also due to an inversion. The third was a young boy, who looked fine but had developed dissociative identity disorder possibly due to an inversion. And the last one was a girl in her teens who lost an arm to some desert beast.
'They don't have much in common… plus the first was only bitten while the second was mauled to death.'
He thought about the claw and bite marks left on the victims.
'It seems to go for the neck. Is there something about the victims' necks or can it be any neck…'
He rested his hands on his head, which was starting to hurt from it all.
'I should probably head back.'
Just then he heard something scratching against the tough stone in the distance.
'It's close.'
A wide grin formed on his face as he brandished his weapon. Immediately he lunged in its direction and swiftly swept the area.
'Damn it! How did I miss it?'
He threw his spear in anger. The metal tip impacted against a stone wall producing a strange ringing noise. As soon as it did the wall started crumbling.
Astel gazed at the newly formed hole and smiled. 'Bingo!'
He carefully approached it, making sure to pick up his spear along the way. As the dust settled, he peered inside the opening and saw a large hall, reminding him of when he fought the stalker beast.
"A nest? Or just shelter… Either way, it's been here."
"How odd." He mouthed silently, confusion showing on his otherwise stoic face. 'I don't see a trace of it.'
Last time he was in such a hall he didn't have a flicker of light. Now he at least had the glowing lichen.
Walking around the cold hall he made sure to inspect the walls and ceiling. As expected, he noticed a particular pattern engraved onto every bit of stone. It looked… human made, but he couldn't recognize if it was a language or just a decoration.
'The other me would've been jumping all over this.' He snickered. 'Now where is that little rascal.'
He paused as a thought came across his mind. 'What if it's another stalker.'
His eyes shone brightly with anticipation.
Snapping him out of his daze was the sound of steps not too far away from him. He turned and raised his spear ready to throw it at a moment's notice.
Step… step… step.
Each second the sound was only coming closer. Astel's muscles stiffened as the sound reached a nearby corner. He took a single step and moved to throw the spear with all his might.
Just as he was about to let go of the spear, he noticed a human silhouette emerge from behind the rocks.
"There you are Master Astel! I've been looking all over for you."
Max stared directly at Astel who was standing behind his spear, which was lodged deep in the ground.
"Sev needs you at camp, we'll be leaving soon." His eyes opened wide. "Is… Is that? Is that a ruin?"
His entire face lit up. "I've only seen them in the sanctuary and even then, they're rare." He ran straight past Astel immediately inspecting each wall. "Wow!" he mumbled, trying to catch his breath.
"What do you know about these ruins?" Astel asked with mild interest.
"About as much as one can know living in the sanctuary." He answered still inspecting the engravings.
"Do you know what they mean? The symbols."
Max shook his head. "Not really… I know that they were built by humans… probably." He paused, noticing something.
"I've seen this before." He pointed at a particular symbol. "I think this means God or Gods, whoever made this probably worshipped some sort of deity."
Astel came closer to inspect it. "Any idea which deity?"
Max shook his head again. "No clue."
Astel dismissed his spear and spoke. "We should head back."
Max seemed hesitant to leave but listened in the end.
Even though he was uninterested at first, the symbol for God piqued Astel's curiosity.
'I suppose we do have some things in common.'
He thought about the other Astel, the image of seeing him crucified burned into his mind, igniting a fire deep within him.
*
Astel now carries more than just unanswered questions—the intruder still stalks the shadows, and the ruins may hold secrets meant to stay buried.