Rise of the Fallen

KORA

I held the notebook high, squinting at the sketch and then at the rock formation in front of me. “Another rock, another dead end,” I muttered, feeling my spirits plummet.

I’d already come across three different rock formations, but none of them matched the ones in this damned notebook. I was starting to think that this map was charting a completely different part of the world than where I was.

I’d been searching for this elusive rock formation for hours, hoping to stumble upon it somewhere nearby. But I’d found nothing even remotely similar. From what I could make out, it was supposed to be some sort of arch, with a river nearby, which was my ultimate destination. If I could find it, I’d have a direct route to a freshwater source. ~Hopefully.~

That was, of course, if I could find it. I sighed, looking up at the two suns overhead, one significantly smaller than the other, as a thought hit me. If I was going to survive here, I needed to familiarize myself with the constellations and the seasonal patterns of this region. I could only hope that winter wasn’t imminent, or I was as good as dead.

It was somewhat comforting to know that a humanoid species had managed to survive and thrive on Xanadis, which meant there was a chance I could do the same. But unlike them, I wasn’t seven feet tall, and I didn’t have horns or a razor-sharp tail.

I was still coming to terms with their existence and the fact that another convict had managed to survive on this planet. Well, until he was murdered.

Did the fools on Krosa know about this? I doubted it. If they knew that criminals could survive here, and that it was possible to establish a colony on Xanadis, it would cause an uproar.

But if the exile had written in this book, then they must know about his discoveries. That there was an alien language filling several pages. Were they hiding this information?

I remembered hearing that the planet had been declared uninhabitable and excessively dangerous by its initial explorers. Since then, all subsequent expedition attempts had yielded the same result; everyone died. Judging by the current circumstances, it might not have been the wildlife that was lethal, but the inhabitants.

Whatever. Krosa isn’t my problem anymore.

Moreover, even if the planet’s wildlife was less deadly, the natives would still obstruct any colonization attempts. Humans had declared any planets with intelligent native species off-limits for colonization. To prevent any more Christopher Columbus incidents, whatever that meant.

I was never really interested in Earth’s history.

And at this moment, Earth’s history was irrelevant to my predicament. Understanding how humans developed automated clothing recommendations or pleasure bots wouldn’t help me.

I returned my focus to the notebook, and an intriguing page caught my eye. Most of it was blacked out, as if the writer had vented his frustration on the paper, but in the center was a white drawing of an animal skull with red eyes. Below it was a small inscription that read, “If you hear it’s clicking, hide! Cover your skin, blend with the darkness, and pray it does not find you! If it sees you, then you’re already dead.”

Okay, that’s seriously creepy. I flipped through the subsequent pages to see if there was any additional information, but there wasn’t.

I sighed, closing the notebook, and resumed my trek through the forest. Despite the potential life-threatening dangers of this godforsaken planet, it was surprisingly pleasant here. Krosa’s Red District lacked any natural plant life or recreational areas, like parks. It was all commercial or residential buildings, and my memories of Earth weren’t exactly fond either.

At least on Xanadis, the air was pure and, despite nature being a threat to my health, it was stunning.

As I navigated through the dense forest, I admired dozens of large, vibrant red flowers growing along the graying trunks of decaying trees. They were wrapped so tightly around the bark, they appeared to be strangling the trees. Despite the beauty around me, the sight made me uneasy. Anxious for some inexplicable reason.

I was so engrossed in observing the vines that seemed to constrict the trees more tightly as I passed, I stepped on something that snapped loudly under my foot. I froze at the sound. It didn’t sound like a branch at all, and as I looked down, gingerly lifting my foot, I realized what I’d crushed under my boot.

Bones.

The ground was littered with animal bones of various sizes, indicating that several different creatures had met their end right here. Suddenly, the beauty around me paled in comparison to the fear that coiled in my stomach.

It was then that I noticed the slender vines of the flowers weren’t just covering the tree trunks but spreading out along the ground and growing around the bones. I inhaled sharply, nearly choking on a sickly sweet scent that seemed to intensify the longer I stood there, trying to process everything.

“Okay,” I said, pretending to be calm. “Bright-red flowers, dead trees. A clearing encircled by bones. Yeah. Nope, fuck this.”

I turned around, determined to avoid the creepy flowers and vines as I retreated from the area. Despite my determination to escape, I couldn’t help but glance back at the flowers that spelled almost certain death. Just then, I tripped over a tree root, tumbling forward and landing face-first on the ground.

“Ah! Fuck!” I cried out as tears welled up in my eyes, my nose throbbing with pain. I’d even managed to injure my hands after unsuccessfully trying to break my fall.

Ignoring the stinging sensation in my palms, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, looking up just in time to see a lone red flower bud swelling in size right in front of my face. My eyes widened as the flower quivered, the vine slithering on the ground, bringing the flower even closer.

“Oh fuck—”

The bud burst open, spraying fluorescent red pollen. It hit me in the face, and I yelped, hastily scrambling backward. I tried to wipe the pollen off my face as I moved, desperate to prevent it from getting into my eyes.

Feeling a sneeze coming on, I inhaled sharply, inadvertently inhaling the pollen. Instantly, dizziness overwhelmed me, the world around me spinning with bright reds, whites, and various shades of green.

I struggled to keep moving, desperate to distance myself from those damned flowers, but my eyelids grew heavy, my limbs feeling like they weighed a ton as I attempted to crawl away. I didn’t even realize I was losing consciousness until I collapsed onto the ground, and everything went black.

A sharp, stinging sensation in my leg jolted me awake.

I groaned, sitting up and squinting into the darkness, rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand as they adjusted to the dim surroundings. The only light I had was the moonlight filtering through the treetops above.

Another sharp pain startled me, and I flinched, only to feel my leg being pinned to the ground. I looked down, recoiling at the sight of hundreds of thin vines wrapped around my left leg. Some of the tips were embedded in my skin.

“What the fuck?”

I frantically started ripping at the small vines, trying to extricate myself from their grip. Once I managed to free myself, blood seeped from dozens of puncture wounds on my leg. I shuddered, watching the vines squirm on the ground.

They seemed to only grow near the flowers, and had I been in that clearing surrounded by them when I passed out, I’d probably be a decomposing corpse by now.

My gaze drifted up to the flowers, which were all closed again. They looked like ordinary rosebuds. Looking around me, another realization dawned on me.

It’s nighttime. Shit.

“All right, Kora. This is fine,” I murmured aloud, trying to suppress my panic. “This is totally fine. You can handle this. So what if it’s a little dark, and there are probably a bunch of terrifying, wild animals that could probably kill you with a single bite lurking around? At least you’re not dead, right?”

I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, only to freeze at the sound of a strange creature shrieking in the distance. What the fuck was that ~?~

I am so fucking dead.

I grabbed my bag off the ground and quickly started heading back to the cave, keeping a vigilant eye on my surroundings.

Only a few minutes later, I heard movement from the forest, louder than my own cautious steps. I froze again, staring in the direction the sound had come from. After a moment, I heard a peculiar noise growing closer, reverberating through the forest. What the hell? The only way to describe the sound was some sort of clicking.

Suddenly, everything fell silent. The stillness was so profound it sent a shiver down my spine. What had caused the sudden quiet? I scanned my surroundings, straining to see anything unusual in the shadowy tree line.

The bushes rustled nearby, pulling my focus. An animal appeared, nibbling on the grass just a few feet away. My heart pounded as I watched, surprised by its sudden presence.

It looked like a giant deer, but with short horns, four eyes, six legs, and a long, feathered tail that brushed the ground. Its body was covered in dark fur, decorated with light, swirling patterns. It kept eating until it saw me.

The deer lifted its head, studying me while it chewed. I felt my tension ease after a moment. It wasn’t aggressive. It seemed as cautious of me as I was of it. The longer we watched each other, the more I noticed. The creature had healed scars across its head and was missing an ear.

Could this be an herbivore from Xanadis? A creature that only eats grass and plants?

As long as I don’t startle it, it shouldn’t attack me.

The creature made a puffing sound, followed by a deep chirp. Its feathered tail brushed the ground behind it as it looked at me suspiciously, probably wondering if I was friend or foe.

I get it, buddy. Please don’t think I’m dinner.

I gave a nervous smile, reaching out my hand for the deer to sniff. It hesitated, then took a small step forward, lowering its head in curiosity. It chirped again, but then something jumped from the trees and grabbed the creature in its jaws.

I screamed in fear, falling backward and landing hard on my butt, now looking up at a huge, pale creature. The deer’s painful screech was cut off by a loud snap, and its body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud.

I watched in horror, too scared to do anything but stare at the pale creature as blood dripped from its mouth.

Its body was covered in scars, and several arrows stuck out from its back. The end of its tail looked like a partially broken claw, with a whole segment snapped off.

It bent down, licking the blood from the dead deer. Two claw-like arms unfolded from its huge chest, wrapping around the body and pulling it closer. It ate its meal right in front of me, seemingly unaware of me, busy licking the body with its long tongue.

Trembling, I forced myself to stand, backing away slowly to avoid being noticed. When a branch snapped under my foot, I froze, panic making my eyes wide. The pale monster turned its head toward me, giving me a clearer view of a sight I never wanted to see again. Part of its skull-like face was missing, as was one of its glowing red eyes.

It looked at me, and that same creepy clicking sound I’d heard earlier came from its throat.

Without wasting another second, I turned and ran. My bag bounced against my back as I ran like my life depended on it—because it did. I didn’t dare look back, pushing myself to run as hard and as far as I could.

I found some thick tree roots sticking out of the ground and crawled between them, hugging my bag to my chest as I squeezed myself as far under the roots as possible. Sweat dripped from my forehead as I tried to catch my breath.

The moonlight was dim as I peeked between the roots, praying that the creature hadn’t followed me. I didn’t know what it was, only that it was big and deadly.

I looked at my bag, remembering the page with the animal skull drawing. Was that the creature the notebook had warned about?

After a few minutes, I managed to calm myself a little, thinking I was safe and well hidden. I hadn’t heard or seen the creature, so maybe I’d lost it. I shivered as the night’s cold set in.

I wasn’t about to go back out there tonight, knowing that thing could be waiting. And after running blindly through the forest in the dark, I was completely lost. It would be best to wait until daylight before trying to find my way back to the cave.

I just hoped morning would come soon.