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"Uh?"  Josh looked up, to see a large, bearded figure standing over them both.  He was dressed in furs that, once perhaps, were possibly grand things, but now were worn, faded and slightly grimy through use and age.  He was leaning on a massive axe with both hands, the metal head resting on the ground.

"And just who the hell are you?" Josh asked, pulling himself up to a sitting position.  Samantha did the same, her hand straying to her gun at the same time.

"I wouldn't missy," the large newcomer growled.  "I'll cut you in half before you can get a shot off."

Scowling, Samantha halted her movement.

"You didn't answer my question," Josh said again.  He didn't want a fight now.  This man looked like he could handle himself, and he was drained from holding off the guardian.
 
The man drew himself up proudly.  "I am..."  He paused.

"Yes?" Samantha prompted.

"I was..."  The man slumped.  "To be honest, I can't remember.  But I know I am in hiding, and I cannot allow any knowledge of my whereabouts to become known.  Hence, I'm going to have to kill you."  He lifted his axe.

"Hey hey hey now!" Josh said, waving his hands about and climbing quickly to his feet, then moving to stand in front of Samantha, who had also stood up.  "There's no need for murder here.  We're not going to tell anyone.  We're on a vital mission to save the world as it is, and our presence needs to be kept a secret too."  That wasn't particularly true, but Josh decided he wasn't bothered about lying a bit.

"Besides," he added, holding a hand up.  "You may find us harder to kill than you think."  He forced what little power he had left into his hand, creating a reasonably impressive display of blue electrical bolts.

The man paused, eyeing them both again.  For a moment, Josh thought it might come down to a fight, but then the man slumped. 

"Fine," he said, but you need to swear that you shall never reveal my existence, agreed?"

"Not a problem."  Josh nodded.

"Agreed," Samantha said.

"Very well."  The man lowered his axe again.  "You both look like you could use a rest, come on, I've somewhere."


"I must admit, this is rather pleasant."  Josh stretched his arms.

"I've had time."

The man's base was slightly off the road, down a very narrow ravine, hidden by a boulder.  There was a short, dark, tunnel, which curved slightly, which led into a circular cave area, furnished with rugs, furs and various other materials to make it more homely.  Lights, some appeared to be magical, others tech powered, were dotted around the walls.  In the middle of the area was a fire, burning low.  The smoke rose up through a natural chimney above.

"I've managed to collect a few things over the... years," the man went on.

Josh wondered exactly how many years.  All around the walls was, well, loot was probably one way to describe it.  Salvage perhaps another.  There were piles of armour, old weapons, clothing, wooden crates, packs, sacks and more, piled up neatly.  Most of it looked very old.

"You certainly..." he started to say, when he was interrupted by a familiar, unwelcome voice.

"Well, well, well," the Narrator declared, standing apparently obliviously, in the middle of the fire.  "It never rains but it pours, as the humans say."

"Who are you?" Josh's new acquaintance asked, looking directly at the Narrator.

"What's going on?" Samantha looked around.

"The Narrator."  Josh gestured at the figure in purple.

"Not only were we treated to a spectacular run past the guardian, but who should our hero meet on the other side?"  The Narrator indicated the large man, who was frowning hard.  "The Lost King, that's who!  The very one missing for so many centuries!  We all assumed he was dead, but now we know!  Oh, this is going to get interesting!"

"Get out of my home!" the Lost King, as he'd been described, thundered, throwing a rock at the Narrator.

The rock flew true, but hit only empty air, as the annoying figure had vanished.  The fire seemed untouched.

"Will someone tell me what's happening?"  Samantha scowled.  "How can everyone except me see this Narrator fellow?"

"Who was that?" the Lost King growled in turn.  "Where did he go?"

Josh sighed, addressing the Lost King first.  "I don't know who he is, he just pops into my life occasionally, declares this and that, and vanishes again.  You are only the second other person, well, being I guess, who has been able to see and hear him, other than me."  He turned to Sam.  "Just the usual," he explained.  "Except he said our new friend here is the Lost King, missing for centuries apparently."  He looked back at the man.  "Does that make any sense to you?  Can you remember?"

The man scratched his head, dislodging several small insects.  "There is something...  No, I don't know.  I do know I've been here a long time, hiding from... Someone?"

"If you were the king, what were you the king of?" Samantha asked.  "Was it To?  Were you there before His Grace?"

The man jerked, as if hit.  "That name!" he roared.  "Where did you hear that name?" 

Samantha, startled, blinked a few times before replying.  Her hand had automatically gone to her gun, but she pulled it away.  "He's the ruler of To.  He has been for as long as anyone can remember."  She looked at Josh.

"Maybe centuries?" Josh said.  Such a timespan would match what Alisia had told him, back in the Puritan camp.

"Do you think he could have been the ruler of To, before His Grace?"  Samantha looked at the man, wide eyed.

"Stop saying that name," the Lost King said.  "It makes me uncomfortable."  He paused.  "Do you think that is true?  Was I the ruler of this To place?"

"The facts fit."  Josh nodded.  "And the Narrator, as annoying as he is, hasn't been wrong about anything so far.  He seems to know more than he should."

The Lost King sighed.  "Well, I suppose I have been here for some time."

Looking around at the supplies stacked up in the cave, Josh nodded.  "So, what will you do?"

"I don't know, you have given me something to think about, that is for sure."  The Lost King rubbed at his beard.

"I don't suppose you know of the Red Man do you?" asked Samantha.

"I'm sorry, no." 

"Well, if you were exiled by His Grace, it would have been after your time anyway."  Samantha looked around.  "Would you mind if we rested here for the night?  It's been a strenuous day so far."

"Of course.  Where are my manners?  Forgotten along with my memory."  The Lost King stood.  "I shall fetch some food, we can eat together.  It will be my first meal with others in some while."

"That would be wonderful," Josh said, stretching his aching arms.  "Where do you get the food here anyway?"

"I hunt, there is a reasonable wildlife population, and there's an underground river not far from here."  He gestured at another entrance to the cave, one half covered by a crude curtain.  "The fish in it are tasty, if a little strange looking.  They live in darkness you see?  There are various mosses and other plants too, and I have a small vegetable patch on a tiny bit of flat land near the cave.  I make do."

"We'll pitch in with a few supplies too," Samantha said, reaching for her bag.  "I hope you like Beppo meat."

"Aye, every so often I stumble over one in the wild.  They're hard to kill, but very nutritious.  Let me go and collect some supplies.  You can cook the meat over the fire in the meantime.  There are some pots over there."  He pointed at a pile of kitchen items to one side.
"Thanks," Josh said, as the man headed out. 

The meal, consisting of Beppo meat, and various vegetables supplied by the Lost King, was as tasty as anything Josh had had, especially recently with the limited diet he'd had in the village, and traveller rations before that, over the Green.  Over dinner, Josh and Samantha explained their mission to the Lost King, who ate up the information, but, unfortunately, wasn't able to tell them anything useful in return.

Once the last of the food was done, the Lost King sat back, hands on his stomach, and gave the most enormous burp.  "That," he said.  "Was a nice meal.  And with company too.  I'm glad I didn't kill you now."

"Us too," Josh agreed.

"I am sorry I can't help you.  The only thing I can tell you is that Dark Valley is about half a day's walk away.  Just follow the pass down, you can't get lost, as there is literally nowhere else to go.  The mountains to either side are essentially impassable.  I chose this area because it's the only place the walls on either side of the path aren't sheer, and because of the cave of course, and the tunnels beyond."

"The tunnels?" Josh asked.  "Do they go anywhere?"

The Last King shook his head.  "Possible, but they're wurm tunnels.  Old ones too.  The wurms are giant and ancient creatures.  They don't usually come this near the surface.  If you followed their tunnels, you would likely spend a lifetime, or at least until you starved to death, wandering through them.  Although I have heard rumours of creatures living within.  However, I do think they are just rumours.  What I do know is that the tunnels go on and on and on.  They run under and all through this vast range of mountains.  Getting lost in them would be the end of you."

"Very well, I guess the pass it is then."  Josh sat back and yawned.  "I know it's still early, but I need sleep.  Holding off the Guardian has worn me out."

"Get out the sleeping mats," Samantha said.  "I'd like to check out the local area, if our new friend wouldn't mind showing me around, that is?" 

"It would be my pleasure."  The Lost King did a small, sitting, bow.

"Cool."  Josh stood up and picked up his bag.  "And don't forget, you owe me something special for holding off that monster."

Samantah giggled.  "You need to regain your strength first."


Josh slept like the dead the whole night, but woke up early, feeling refreshed.  By his side, Samantha mumbled in her sleep, whilst a massive snoring echoed around the cave, originating from the Lost King.

After a breakfast, they packed up their gear, and a few new items that they scavenged from the horde of the Lost King's cave.

"If I've not used it now, I probably never will," he said.

With their farewells, and a promise to return if possible, they finally departed, heading down the pass towards Dark Valley.

"I really didn't expect us to take so long getting to this place," Samantha complained, as they trudged along.

"I just hope your friend can guide us to the Red Man after all of this," Josh agreed.

"Let's just hope that's the case, and let's also hope the Red Man has something useful he can tell us."

They walked on, under a clear sky, the mountains looming large on either side, until, finally, they turned a bend, and there, down below them, was Dark Valley.


>>>>
Right, sorry it's taken a while.  I've been swept up in a bit of an Amine craze, and, of course, that's inspired me to start another story, as if the two I'm working on right now aren't enough.  Anyway, look out in the future for: "Regret – Reincarnated with Murderous Intent."   Coming, well, I don't know when.
In the meantime, suggestions here are simply: What does Dark Valley look like?  Is it like To, or something else?  Ideas of the look, feel, culture etc. of the place, all welcome.  Including any strange laws they may have, for Josh and Sam to run afoul of!
<<<<

A blue light lit up in front of them, revealing a nondescript human-like figure. 

"Retreat!  Danger!  Danger!" it screamed.

"Who the hell are you?" Josh screamed back, still gazing at the approaching guardian.

"I'm Panic of course.  I'm just projecting a hologram to impress upon you the seriousness of the situation."

"Fucking hell," Samantha swore, pulling out her gun.  "I really think we can see it for ourselves."

Indeed they could.  The approaching monstrosity was unparalleled in Josh's experience, even given the odd encounters he'd had since arriving in To.

Both of them backpedalled madly, as the thing stomped forward.

And it was a thing.

Standing at a good fifteen metres tall, if not more, the beast appeared to be a horrific mix of Beppo, man and reptile.  Possibly dragon.

It stood on two gigantic, muscular human legs, apart from the fact they seemed to have slightly shiny, maybe even scaly, skin.  These legs led up to a Beppo body, complete with four waving tubetacles that grew from the sides, except that they terminated in hands.  These hands, though, had deadly looking claws instead of nails.

The upper part of the Beppo body didn't end there.  From the top sprouted a neck, and a horrible human-style head.  It had wavy black hair, a face with large grey eyes, and a hooked nose. The mouth seemed to have a bit of canine mixed in too.  There was definitely a muzzle-like quality to the lower head area.

The thing stamped closer, and opened said mouth, revealing teeth a shark would have been proud of.  Flickering between these teeth was a forked tongue, taken, perhaps, from the devil himself.

"Holy fuck!" Josh said.

"Danger!  Danger!" shouted the Panic hologram, living up to its name.

"Yeah, we know!" Josh screamed back.

"Delicious!" roared the guardian, lunging forward.  "Food!"

"Fuck!"  Josh threw up his hands, and the creature's attack met his blue force field.  At the same time, he felt like a house had just landed on him.

"Josh," cried Samantha, opening up with her gun.
 
The guardian screamed as her bullets peppered his head, and then screamed louder as one hit an eye.
 
"Nice shooting," the holographic Panic commented.

"I think we've just pissed it off," Josh said, as the thing roared, and swung it's tubetacles at them.  "Oh fuck!"  He was nearly driven to the floor as his shield blocked the latest blow, but which sent a shockwave through his body.

"Are you okay?" Samantha asked, firing more shots up at the beast.

"We need to retreat," he shouted back.  "I can't hold him off much longer!  He's worse than the Blightning!"

They did retreat, running at full pelt back along the mountain path they'd so innocently wandered up.  The guardian kept attacking, pounding Josh's shield, which grew weaker and weaker with every attack.

"I can't go on any more!" he gasped, after the most recent lunge.  "Sam, save yourself, I'll distract it."

"No fucking way," she replied.  "We're going out of this together."  She lunged forward, and wrapped her arms around his body.  "I think we made a good go of it, don't you?"

Josh smiled at her, suddenly calm, despite his impeding death.  He leaned in and kissed her, and waited for the end.

It didn't come. 

After several seconds of snogging, in which they failed to die, he broke off and looked up.

The guardian was still there, raving and roaring, except he seemed to be beating at some kind of invisible wall, which was holding it back.

"Not that I'm upset to still be alive," he said.  "But, what's going on?"

"Shield wall detected," said the blue hologram that was Panic, which had travelled along with them.  "Please remain calm.  There is no danger."

"Well, that's nice.  But, what's going on?"  he repeated.

"Think about it," Samantha said.  "You need to have a guardian guarding a pass, but you can't have it wandering off now, can you?  So, what do you do?"

"What?" asked Josh.

"You limit its movement, that's what," she said.  "There's some kind of boundary it can't cross.  I guess it doesn't wait at the edge, otherwise everyone would just run off.  It waits until we're well within its territory, and then attacks.  We only survived because of your power.  I doubt anyone else would have made it out."

"You're welcome," Josh said, bowing. 

Samantha giggled, but then made a more serious face.  "Still, that doesn't tell us how to get by it."

They both took another step back as the guardian beat against the invisible screen holding it back.

"Wait is it... speaking?"  Samantha asked.

"I..." Josh paused and cocked his head, listening.

"It is speaking the local dialect," Panic informed them. 
Josh took a longer look at the hologram.  It was a little genie-in-a-bottle-like, appearing as a bald, elderly male with a long goatee beard, albeit all made of sparkly blue light.  It was wearing a shirt and a waistcoat.  Below there were trousers, but these tapered off into a cartoon-ghost point.  A very thin, barely visible, silver thread led back into Josh's pocket, where he had put the egg.

"What's it saying?" Samantha asked.

"It's rambling, but essentially: Food, pretty girl, girl pretty, food, girl, pretty, food food food, pretty girl... Well, you get the idea."

"Not the most scintillating of conversationalists," Samantha commented.

"He's right about the pretty girl though."  Josh smiled.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," she replied, but then looked back up at the guardian, which had, finally, stopped bashing against the invisible barrier, and was now pacing up and down along it.  "But that doesn't answer the question.  How do we get by?  Do you think you can hold it off long enough with your shield, if you are prepared?"

Josh shook his head.  "I doubt it.  We barely made it back here, and we don't know how far it is to the other side's shield, I assume there must be one.  But even if it's only the same distance again, I can't hold it off that long.  Perhaps if it went back to where we first encountered it, managed to get by it, assuming it's no further to the other side, then it would be possible.  But it would be a risk."

"We need to distract it then, give us a head start at least."  Samantha looked at the hologram.  "Hey, Panic, can you speak to it?"

"I can try," it replied.  "What would you like me to say?"

"How about asking it about pretty girls?" 

"Oh?  Well, okay then."  The hologram looked up at the monster and growled out an incomprehensible question.

It was incomprehensible to Josh perhaps, but the beast certainly understood it.  It stopped pacing and roared back, beating against the barrier again.

"What did it say?"  Josh asked.

"Girls! Pretty girls. Like pretty girls.  Want pretty girls."

"So, he likes pretty girls then."  Josh rubbed his chin.

"I get the feeling he must be lonely," Samantha added.

"And maybe horny."

Samantha looked at Panic again.  "Your form."  She gestured at his old man image.  "Can you change it at all?"

"Of course.  I can transform into anything you would like, up to a certain size limit of course."

"And how far from your egg can you project?" she asked.

"Not very far.  Perhaps five or six metres at most."

"That's a shame.  I was hoping for more."  Samantha scratched her head and looked at Josh.  "How fond of your AI are you?"

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"Are you ready?"

"I am."  Josh looked at the egg.  "Are you sure you're okay with this?  I feel bad about it."

"Don't worry, I was sitting in the Between for several centuries before you picked me up.  I can manage."

"Fair enough, I'll pick you up again, should I ever get the chance."

"I calculate the odds of that will be slim," Panic replied.

"Yeah."  Josh looked at Samantha and nodded.

"Let's do this.  Panic, get ready."

"I am always ready."  The hologram sniffed, but then vanished.  "Okay, throw."  The voice came from the egg in Josh's hand this time.

Josh waited until the guardian was to one side slightly, and then threw the egg as far as he could up the pass, near the edge of the path.

The guardian glanced around, but remained where it was, against the invisible barrier.

Josh tensed, waiting.  A few seconds later, appearing in a slightly more solid form, Panic's hologram materialised again.  This time it as a female, not too dissimilar to Samantha in appearance, although certain attributes had been enhanced, and it was wearing a fairly skimpy bikini.  Josh had to force himself not to ogle.

"Woo hoo," Panic shouted, waving.  "Here big boy!"  It growled something in the beast's lingo.

It worked, the guardian swung around and roared, running up to the hologram.

"Go!" Samantha said, in a low voice.

Keeping to the opposite side to Panic, they ran as fast, and as quietly, as possible, along the pass. 

The beast, meanwhile, was swiping at the hologram, trying to grab the projection, which obviously wasn't working.  Panic was keeping up a verbal monologue too, although Josh couldn't hear what it was saying.
Within seconds they were past the beast, which still hadn't noticed them, thanks to Panic's efforts.

They made it further than Josh expected before there was another roar, as it finally caught on.

"Faster!" Josh cried out, glancing back, to see the monster start to lumber after them.

"Really?" Samantha panted back.  "I was... thinking of taking a break."

Josh didn't reply, concentrating on running, as the guardian began to pick up speed.  He risked another peek over his shoulder, and was dismayed at how fast it was catching up.

"Fuck!" he gasped.

Still, they managed to get a ways beyond where they had met the beast the first time before it managed to catch up, and Josh had to throw his hands up to shield them. 

He was more prepared this time for the jolt, but it still made him cry out in pain as the attack hit.

"I hope the other end isn't far!" he wailed. 

"We're... going... downhill a bit now," Samantha panted back, just as Josh deflected another blow.

Samantha, seeing his distress, pulled her gun out and fired several wild shots back over her shoulder.

The guardian howled as it was hit, but didn't slow down, and attacked again.

"Don't!"  Josh wailed, nearly stumbling.  "You're just making it madder!"

"Sorry!" Samantha gasped back.

Josh didn't reply, but just focussed on moving forward, which wasn't easy whilst holding his hands above him, and concentrating on protecting them both from the ever-increasing blows from above.

"I can't hold out much longer!" I wailed.  Despite his new-found fitness, his heart was beating so hard he was sure it was about to explode, and he was struggling to breathe.  That, and his arms felt as if they would fall off any second.

"Come on, it can't be far now!"  Samantha cried out.  "Hold on out and I'll reward you with something special tonight!"

That statement boosted Josh enough to endure three more hits.

"Shit!"  he moaned, after one mighty blow staggered him.  "I'm out... we're... unprotected. Veer... veer right, give... it... two... targets!"

"Not... going... to."

And then it was done.  The monster let out an almighty howl, but the thud of its footsteps stopped abruptly.

Glancing back, Josh let out a huge sigh of relief.

"We're through!" he managed to get out, as he collapsed to the ground.

"Thank fuck!"  Samantha slumped down beside him.

For what seemed like several minutes, both of them lay there, gasping for air to relieve their oxygen debt, whilst the guardian ranted behind the shield.

Just as Josh was beginning to feel like he could breathe again, a shadow fell over them.

"Well, that was impressive," said a new voice.  "Shame it's all going to be or nothing."

>>>>
Yay!  Guardian finally done.  That was somehow tough to write. 
Anyhoo, another obvi one here, who's greeted them on this side?  What do they want?  What are they like?  Etc!  All suggestions welcome!
As always, thanks for reading.
<<<<

"We're not going to make it," Samantha gasped, after several minutes of desperate running.

Josh wasn't sure.  The mountains seemed a lot closer now, and there was, just about visible to his eyes that seemed to be having trouble focussing, what looked like a cave entrance.

"Keep... going," he panted back.  "We'll make it."

As if to contradict him, an enormous Blightning blast from behind them shook the ground, nearly knocking them both of their feet.

Josh glanced backwards.  The blast had hit several of the Beppo still chasing them.  Two or three of the beetle creatures had been fried into powder, and the rest had been blown metres away, but even as he looked, they were finding their feet, or at least their tubes, and beginning the pursuit once more.  Even the Blight couldn't stop a Beppo swarm, it seemed.

"I don't want to die!" Josh wailed.

"Use your powers," Samantha responded.  "We're not going to make it otherwise."

"I don't...." 

The world changed. 

Silence. 

"What the hell?"

"Whilst he felt his body was still running, it was as if he was suddenly detached from it.  Detached from the world.  And everything was moving in super slow motion.  There was a moaning noise, like a video being played at one tenth speed, and the light seemed to be a lot bluer than usual.

He looked around.

"Oh."

His vision had changed in some fashion.  It was as if he could see the very fabric of reality, the threads holding creation together.  His vision was piercing the veil of space and time. 

"Cool," he muttered.

Then he looked up.

The clouds that were so ominously looming before were still there, but now he saw them for what they really were.
 
Yes, there was the blue-grey mist, but sailing within that mist were, well, ghosts was about as accurate description as any.  Phantom bodies, skeletal forms, swam in the fog, their skull faces somehow radiating hate as they looked down at the living below.  One was holding out a bony hand, from which one of the red lightning bolts was stabbing down.

"Shit." 

The world came back.   The noise, the colour, the terror.

"Do something!" screamed Samantha, as another explosion shook the earth just behind them, scattering them with debris.

Josh held his hand up, somehow, he knew what to do now.  Maybe there was something to this whole Blight Saviour after all.

A bolt of red fire lanced down.
 
Both Josh and Samantha winced, but it stuck something before it reached them.  A blue dome was briefly visible, deflecting the lightning.

"Yes!" Samantha screamed.  "I think I love you!"

"What?"  Josh stumbled, and a bolt exploded nearby.

"Concentrate!!" she screamed.

Josh nodded, and focussed again.  He ran forward, arm held high, as blast after blast pounded down at them.  All of them were deflected by his blue shield, although he could feel the impact, like a jolt to his arm, as they hit.

"Ow!"  He made a face as a particularly vicious bolt blasted down on them, colouring the world in blood red light.

"There!  There's the cave!"  Samantha pointed forward, at the shelter Josh had seen before, but now far closer, under the mountains that loomed up over them.

"Thank fuck," Josh moaned, as several more bolts hit.  "I don't know how much longer I can hold them off."  He was hurting.  The repeated attacks felt like someone hitting his arm with a hammer.  Each one slightly more intense than the last.

The last two minutes seemed like they would never end, but, finally, Samantha and Josh stumbled into the shelter of the cave, which stretched back and down as far as they could see, into the dark earth.  Josh dropped his hand, and the shield.

"Look out!"

He whirled around, to see a large Beppo jumping towards him.  In his relief at getting under cover, he'd forgotten about the things following. 

There was a loud retort, and the creature squealed as it was thrown to one side, where it twitched several more times as Samantha put more rounds in it from close range.

"Shit, thanks," Josh gasped, looking out of the entrance as Samantha lowered her gun.  It seemed that had been the sole surviving Beppo.
 
"It was my turn," she replied, as several Blightning blasts exploded in front of the cave.  "Come on, let's move a bit further in." 
"No argument there."

They wandered into the cave, the floor of which was coated in soft soil that had no doubt drifted in over time.  The walls flickered with reflected red flashes as the Blightning continued to stab down outside. 

Finally, Samantha stopped and dropped her pack.  "We should be sheltered enough here," she said.   "Are you okay?"  She stepped up to him and ran her hands down his arms.

Josh dropped his own pack and nodded.  "A bit tired."

"Come on, we'll rest here for the night, let the storm pass over."

"Good idea."

Josh picked up his pack, and started rummaging through it, when something occurred to him.  He dropped the bag and lifted his shirt, turning to face the entrance to see better.

Josh had never been fat in his own world, but his job, which consisted mostly of office work, and a laziness when it came to exercising, meant he had always carried around a little bit of excess stomach.  Now though, it was if he was looking at his teenage body.
 
He laughed.

"What?"  Samantha asked.

"I'm ripped."  He turned around to show Samantha his newly rediscovered six-pack abs.  "I just realised, I ran up here with a heavy pack on my back, and I'm barely winded.  Back in my world I could just about climb a flight of stairs without taking a rest."  He dropped his shirt again.  "How long were we wandering the Green, really?"

Samantha shook her head.  "I don't know, but this whole journey has taken far longer than I thought it would.  We don't even know if my... friend knows where the Red Man is.  It could all be a waste of time."

Josh stepped close, and wrapped his arms around her.  "As far as I'm concerned, Beppo and Blightning attacks aside, I'm having a great time."

She giggled, but then he kissed her...


"Okay, you are fitter now."  Samantha panted as he rolled off her, onto the sleeping mat they had hastily pulled from their bag.  "That was pretty intense."

"Thank you Captain," he said, as she snuggled up to him.  He looked up at the cave entrance.  "I think the storm is passing at least."

"Yes, finally.  That was the worst Blightning storm I've ever seen."

"I saw into it you know, back when we were running."

"Saw into it?"  She lifted herself up onto an elbow and looked at him.

"The clouds above, they were teeming with... I don't know, ghosts, spirits, the dead.   They are the things casting down the red lightning."

Samantha frowned.  "I've heard rumours of this sort of thing before.  Many of our scientists and mages have tried to study the Blight, with limited success, because of how dangerous it is.  The one thing that everyone knows, though, is that it targets life force, sucking it out of everything and anything it can."

"So, you think these dead things are trying to recover their lost life energy?"  Josh shook his head that he could even say such a mad sounding sentence with any seriousness.

"Like I said, there isn't much known, and there are a lot of theories.  That is certainly one of them."

"Fuck."

"But you held them off.  You are the Saviour."

"That is yet to be confirmed."  Josh made a face.

"I don't think I've ever heard of anyone else fending off Blightning strikes," she said.

"I doubt many get the chance."

"You're right."  She sat up.  "We need to check our supplies.  I guess we may as well take the Beppo meat from that dead one too.  No sense wasting protein."

"Oh joy, one more Beppo to dismember."

Samantha giggled.  "Come on, we'll do that, then, if the storm has passed enough, we can look for some wood to make a fire.  It'll be cosy."

"Yes, why not?  I just wished we'd stashed some Beppos too, I could use a drink." 


They spent a fairly pleasant night, in the end, after a meal of Beppo meat, snuggled together in the cave, in their well-used sleeping bag. 
Dawn had risen, as it tends to, and they had made a breakfast of more Beppo.

Whilst packing away their supplies, Josh had found the metallic egg that called itself Panic.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about this," he said, as it unfurled. 

"Good morning," the thing said.

"Hello Panic, how are you?" Josh asked it.

"I am functioning within acceptable parameters," it replied.  "May I be of any assistance?"

"Unless you know of a way to the Dark Valley, I don't think so.  Perhaps you can just keep an eye out of any dangers though?"

"Very well, I shall remain on standby," it said, flashing a green light.

"Fantastic."  Josh put the AI in his pocket.
 
Once they had finished packing, including wrapping some of the recently slaughtered Beppo in some of their waxed paper, Josh and Samantha headed out into the post-Blightning world.

After some debate, they decided not to return to the hamlet.  It was time to move on, and going back they would no doubt get involved in rebuilding, assuming anyone had survived.

Hence they followed the path up into the mountains, into what was obviously the Pass, and the infamous guardian.

"I just want you to know," Samantha said, after a while of walking.  "If we die here, I've enjoyed my time with you."

"Hey, come on!"  Josh said.  "Don't talk like that.  We've a way to go yet."

"But this guardian doesn't sound like something we can easily overcome."

"We've managed so far, haven't we?  We've beaten Afflicted beings, memory sapping plains, swarms of Beppo and monster Blightning storms, to name just a few.  One lousy guardian isn't going to stop us now."
She sighed.  "I hope you're right."

"Of course I'm right, how bad could it... oh fuck."

A shadow had fallen over them.
 
"I'm guessing that's the guardian then."  Samantha looked up.

"Danger!" Panic shouted, from his pocket.  "Imminent threat!"

"Yeah, no shit," said Josh.

>>>>
Yay!  Finally managed to squeeze one out! 
We have had some ideas about the guardian before, but now, I'd like to know what form it takes.  Any ideas?

As always, thanks for reading!
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