Behind us, something stirs inside the whirlpool, and it's not the wind.
"That's not good, it's a corrupted monster!" Alissa warns, tension etched on her face.
You and I both know I have no idea what it is, but it looks very dangerous.
Without wasting time, she shoots a quick glance at Foster.
"We're out of time, Foster! Use your sword and let's get out of this area now!"
Foster just nods in agreement. He raises his sword above his head, and the blade bursts into light, outshining even the weak sunlight.
The flare reveals, about twenty meters away, a twisted tree that seems to pulse like a beacon amid the chaos.
"I found the passage! Let's run there!" he shouts.
But before we can move, a deep roar cuts through the air, followed by a sharp crack that echoes in my chest.
"HAAAAAA!"
From the whirlpool emerges a humanoid figure, two-headed, with deformed muscles and nearly three meters tall.
"What a bizarre world…" I murmur, still not fully understanding where I am.
We wait for nothing. We rush toward the tree.
I fly through the air, carried by the beat of my wings.
Foster follows closely behind, sword in hand pointing forward, flying. Alissa, agile, fires an arrow that stretches like an elastic cord, pulling her forward at impossible speed.
The monster's sound chases us, and every step it takes seems to shake the very world.
We reach the tree, and are quickly sucked in.
Thanks to them, I manage to enter the tree's passage, because if it were up to my luck alone, we would have been dead a long time ago.
The passage throws us into a place surprisingly calm and peaceful, to my surprise. Ahead of us stands an old house, very similar to the previous one, surrounded by dense forests. The scorching sun burns the skin and makes the air shimmer.
But we are too tired and too terrified to notice the details.
"What a peaceful place…" I say, still in disbelief.
No time to think further. Suddenly, Foster lunges, grabbing me by the collar with violence, his face inches from mine.
"Damn prisoner! If it weren't for your slowness, they'd still be alive!"
"Stop, Foster!" Alissa steps between us, pushing him back and separating us.
"You know he's not to blame!"
Foster lowers his head, resentful. Deep down, he just wants a way to get rid of his anger and guilt over the death of his people.
Normally, I would snap back without thinking twice. But not this time. I'm too emotional for that—after all, I'm alive thanks to them.
"This is the False Paradise area, where we were before," Alissa explains with a brief sigh of relief.
"Let's go inside. We're safe, for now."
Foster doesn't respond.
He just starts walking alone toward the house, heavy steps, sword resting on his back.
"I admit you were useful to get us here," he says without even looking at me. "But your help doesn't make up for what we lost. I can't just ignore that. I hope you understand."
I say nothing.
Is he right? I think yes. And also no.
I didn't ask to be saved, even though I needed it. I'm grateful, but the truth is Foster doesn't like me, and I don't like him either.
Still, I'll leave him alone. He's mourning.
Alissa approaches, trying to ease the tension.
"Don't pay much attention to my brother. He's always been hot-headed. He's not a Revealed, and only because of me did he agree to help you. After all, it's hard for him to accept that a prisoner is a Revealed, especially a Circle 2."
We walk together toward the house. The sun beats down hard, and each step feels like dragging the weight of the last hours. I break the silence to ask:
"I understand, so I don't blame him. But you've already given me so much information that I'm restless. I still have many questions. Like, what exactly is an area? And the passage?"
"This deathboard shifts places randomly," Alissa explains, her voice heavy with seriousness. "One moment we're in a place where stones fall from the sky, the next in a territory infested with monsters, and sometimes here, in False Paradise."
I'm stunned, absorbing every word as if they were pieces of a puzzle suddenly beginning to form before me.
We enter the old house. The interior is humble, almost empty, just a few rustic chairs made of tree trunks, creaking under the weight of time. We sit.
"The areas just move around, if I can put it that way," she continues. "So, when one area starts invading another, like before, we need to find a passage, whether in a tree or anything else that transports us here. Although the calm lasts briefly, it's enough to rest."
"I see, so that's why I was sucked here while I was unconscious!" I say.
"Correct," she confirms. "But which area were you in to come here looking so worn out?"
"I don't know the name, nor how it forms. I only know there was a skeletal figure, with an empty throne on its back and—"
Before I finish, Alissa shivers. A slight tremor runs through her shoulders, followed by a heavy sigh, as if she just heard something terrible.
"What is it?" I ask, curiosity mixing with unease.
She looks at me seriously.
"You were in the Monsters and Ruler Area. The most dangerous on the entire board. There, living is practically zero."
At that moment, a heavy silence swallows the room. The air feels thicker, and I find myself wondering if what I heard was really that serious.
But reality pulls me back with Foster's firm voice, almost a roar, coming from the window:
"Damn! Get ready!" he shouts, eyes fixed on something outside.
"Alissa, the other condemned are coming here! It seems the territorial fight is back!"
My heart races. Outside, the horizon distorts as if the very scene were being torn apart by invisible claws, and through this distortion, several humans advance, their eyes full of hatred and bloodlust.