章 12: Bright Stars

Howls and growls woke me up from my uneasy rest. A bit groggy, I left the tent to check on our surroundings. The campfire had died a long time ago, I couldn't feel any warmth from the ashes anymore. Hesitant, I approached the crystal. It was floating in the air – clearly magical in nature, it radiated a soft, pale blue light.

Erik claimed that this might be one of those 'divine pillars' the winged guy had told us about. I disagreed. This was clearly a magical device, but I didn't think it was something as important as that. It seemed to do little more than illuminating its surroundings.

A louder howl distracted me, and I turned to face the dark, silent forest. There were creatures out there – dangerous, and deadly creatures. Hesitant, I approached the edge of the area illuminated by the crystal. The only light sources aside that crystal were the two moons and the shockingly bright starts in the night sky.

The air was cool, the slight breeze from before had gotten slightly stronger. It was a beautiful night. Yet, I felt on edge, even after the howls and growls became more distant. Something felt off. Did I feel like this because none of this was real? Was I subconsciously picking up proof of the virtual world?

I sighed. As I motioned to step towards the camp, something sent a chill down my spine. I felt a warm breath on my neck. Something soft touched my arm. I glanced down to see a corner a of cloth, blown my way by the wind. I froze. My instincts were screaming at me to run, to get away from whatever was behind me. I gulped. The air grew colder.

"How do you still stand?" Its voice was dry, like it hadn't spoken in quite some time. "How does the light allow you to exist?" The simple words were enough to send my mind into chaos. I couldn't move, perhaps out of fear, or maybe because of some sort of magic.

"Why do you not answer me?" The voice whispered. Disgusted by the warm breath on my neck, I forced myself to move. As if something keeping me still just broke, I stumbled forward and fell. Breathing heavily, I turned to face the creature.

It was tall, taller than me. It wore a long, tattered cloak and something that looked like armour underneath. I could see a pair of dark, feathery wings on it's back. Its face was… almost human. Its… no, his bright purple eyes shone in the darkness as our gazes met. I couldn't look away and he chose not to.

"I see…" His dry voice reached my ears. He extended his hand towards me, carefully. As soon as his thin fingers touched the light of the crystal, he pulled them back. From where he touched the light, a barrier appeared.

He stepped back. "You, who is protected by the Ereth," He raised his hand. I could just barely see his pale, blue-grey skin in the darkness. "You shall remain as you are, for today." He extended his wings and with a powerful flap, lifted off the ground. A single black feather landed before me as he disappeared into the night.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I couldn't hear the sound of his wings anymore. I had never felt such a powerful presence before. Unable to hold myself up, I lay on the ground. My hands were still trembling. Once I felt a bit better, I went back inside even though all that awaited me was several more hours of restless sleep.

Hours later, the rays of sunlight touching my face woke me up. With an unhappy yawn, I crawled out of the tent. The air was still cool, the evening breeze hadn't completely disappeared yet. The sky was dyed red and purple as the sun slowly rose from behind the far away mountain range. I could hear birds chirping as the forest slowly woke from its slumber.

I stretched, then looked around. The others were still asleep. Still feeling groggy and tired, I slowly made my way to the stream. I crouched by the flowing water and leaned forward to wash my face. As I saw my white-haired and purple-eyed reflection, realisation struck me, and I suddenly froze.

"No way." I touched the water, felt it flow through my fingers. "Why are we still here?" I whispered as I became more aware of the coldness in my chest. Hadn't Erik told us we'd be logged out by the time we woke up? I summoned the interface and frantically searched for a logout button. There wasn't one. We were still stuck in here.

I bolted towards the camp – there had to be a way to go back home! Erik had to know a way out, he just had to. He was the son of the owner of OTHERWOLD. We couldn't be stuck here for much longer. I didn't have the time to spend here – none of us had.

A loud growl alerted me to a nearby enemy. I quickly pulled my staff out of my inventory as I turned to face it. It was the same type of creature as yesterday. The head of a wolf and the body of a large feline – fast, but weak. Two quick hits to its head knocked it out and I continued towards the camp. The coldness in my chest grew as another shadow joined its brethren.

By the time I had gotten back, only Vincent was awake. He was sitting by the ashes of the campfire with a troubled look on his face. He flinched as I rushed out of the greenery. "Damn Kai, you scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry," I said out of breath. This body was getting tired too easily, it was getting annoying. "Vincent, we're still here." I blurted out. "Erik said-"

"I know what he said." He cut me off. He glared at me for a few seconds then sighed and got up. "Come, let's go for a walk." He walked off. I hurried after him; what did he want, I wondered. When we entered the treeline and silently walked for a while, he finally stopped by a large tree and leaned his back to it.

"What do you think about this world, Kai?" He reached up and plucked a leaf off one of the lower branches.

I hesitated. "It's beautiful." I glanced at the leaf as he crushed it. I could see its sap seeping out of it. "It's too real." I added. With a gulp, I lifted my sight and looked directly at him. "Why did you ask?"

He nodded and let the crushed leaf fall to the ground. "It does feel more real than any other game I've played. Which makes me worry." He glanced around. It was almost as if he didn't want the others to hear any of this.

"No one's here." I said. "You can go on."

He flinched, then with a bitter smile, nodded. "Thanks Kai." He looked at the sky for a moment before continuing. "The others – including Erik – don't know about this. So, listen carefully."

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