Chapter 12
Heat radiated from the three suns, bleeding across the planet's terrain. It was the second day since they had been thrown across space in an unexplainable series of events. The sky looked different this time. Instead of its usual purple haze, it carried a faint golden glow that stretched along the horizon.
The wind pushed freely across the valley, whistling faintly as it went. The cliffs around Erin and the others offered a measure of protection, shielding them from the strangeness of this unknown world.
Erin had woken up alone. The others weren't there when she opened her eyes. Instead of panicking, fearing she had been abandoned, she stood, took a short walk to clear her head, then returned to the spot where she had spent the night.
Her memories were still fragmented. She still couldn't remember much from their arrival. She had been ready to give up trying to recall it at all. But then… it started coming back.
Fragments rushed through her mind like a volley of speeding bullets. Flashes of places and events blurred together, her head aching as she struggled to piece them into something coherent. Finally, she snapped out of her daze as if she were a machine finishing a software update.
"Holy shit," she muttered, glancing around. "I did that?"
She immediately skidded over to the monolith, the same one she had touched before, and the truth hit her in full. She remembered everything now, the way she had arrived, the glowing mark seared into her arm, the worm attack they had survived, and finally… the moment she touched the monolith.
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The chit-chatting from the others had faded into background noise as Erin's focus locked eerily on the structure before her. For some reason, she felt an overwhelming urge to touch the monolith. Her mind and body had completely shut out the chaos happening around her, and the moment her fingers made contact, everything stopped.
Suddenly, her mind was hit with a wave of visions. Flashes of events unfolding as though she had lived them herself.
It was as if her soul had been pulled out of her body and sent to another plane. Visions of a great war came first, then shifted. She saw creatures and beasts that should only exist in books and movies roaming across the land, devouring everything in their path. She saw an empire crumble right before her eyes, humans fighting against each other, not with weapons, but with raw, kinetic power. Energy so wild and potent she could feel it even now, as though she had truly been there. And every one of those fighters bore the same mark she carried.
Distorted screams echoed all around her, Liam's screams. As she saw those visions, she could also see them struggling for breath, gasping desperately for air. Erin tried to disconnect from the monolith, but she had lost all control of her body.
Then something yanked her away. She crashed to the ground, regaining control as pain jolted through her. The weight and urgency of what she had seen pressed heavily on her mind, so much so that her eyes snapped shut and darkness swallowed her whole.
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Erin gasped in realization as it struck her. 'There were others like me.'
Her gaze dropped to her arm. Looking closer at the marking now, she realized it wasn't random lines stretching across her skin. It was an intricate design, patterned deliberately. And it looked familiar.
Her head snapped back up to the monolith. She scanned every part of it, her eyes narrowing as she traced each detail with her gaze. Her hands twitched with the urge to run her fingers across its cracks, but she stopped herself, remembering what had happened last time.
'There it is,' her inner voice whispered when she saw it.
There was a crack pattern on the monolith, and it matched the mark on her arm exactly. The resemblance was undeniable, too precise to be ruled a coincidence. None of this could be considered a coincidence anymore.
Around the same time, Jayden, Liam, and Eira, who were just returning from their search for food, immediately spotted Erin standing before the monolith. They all froze in shock, panic flashing across their faces. They had no idea that her memories had already returned.
Jayden sprinted straight toward her, reaching her in a matter of seconds. He yanked her away from the monolith, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to catch his breath.
"I can't really explain, but you shouldn't go anywhere near that thing," he said firmly, no hesitation in his tone.
Erin arched a brow in amusement. "Uh… thanks. Certainly don't want my brain getting fried again." She spoke casually, almost too casually.
"Wait, who told you that? Did Liam tell you what happened?" Jayden asked, suspicion narrowing his eyes. Erin wasn't exactly being straightforward.
"I remember everything now." She said simply.
She spoke again, without giving Jayden any time to process how she had magically regained her memory. "But that's not important," Erin whispered. Her expression shifted into worry. "Look, Jayden, we can't stay here. It's not safe."
Jayden chuckled softly. "Safe? What do you mean it's not safe? This is the safest place we've come across since we ended up… wherever this is."
Erin leaned closer and told him everything. In vivid detail, she described what she had seen, the destruction, the war, the humans who bore the same glowing mark as hers. She suggested she wasn't the only one.
She didn't leave out the terrifying part either, impossible things roaming this world, creatures beyond imagination and the idea that their next stop could be right here.
Jayden's face hardened as he was immediately convinced. He had already believed it was better to keep moving, constantly searching for a way home.
But Liam, of course, had other ideas.
"So what? We just pack up and leave? Says you, the girl who is amnesiac," Liam scoffed, folding his arms.
"Was," Jayden corrected sharply. "She was. And if what she said is true, we could all be in danger."
"It is true," Erin insisted. "Those things I saw, they're not like the worms we killed with sticks. These are worse. Stronger and bigger. The kind of things we only see in movies." Her voice cracked as she spoke.
"So where would we go, huh?" Liam shot back.
"There's something out there," Erin said, pressing a hand against her arm as though she could feel it. "Somewhere we can find answers about where we are… and how to get back home. I don't know exactly where, but I can feel it. It's like it's calling to me. I know it sounds crazy, but—"
"It doesn't sound crazy," Liam cut her off. "It is crazy. You sound like one of those soul-searchers from a Hallmark movie."
Jayden rolled his eyes and turned to Eira. "If you two are done, Eira and I will be out checking those bunker ruins nearby." He started walking. "Come on."
"So you're just going to follow her?" Liam barked, stepping in Jayden's way. He pointed accusingly at Erin. "Her, who almost killed us with her… curse or whatever." His voice dripped with bitterness.
Jayden stopped and exhaled through his nose. "What is your problem with Erin? She didn't try to kill us; it was an accident."
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I the only one who felt like I was suffocating? Who got thrown across and crushed on the dirt? All because Ms. Touchy over here decided to poke things she shouldn't? You're delusional if you think it won't happen again. She's dangerous." Liam's accusing words echoed in the silence.
Erin didn't even fight back against Liam's hurtful words. She had felt it, the moment her powers had erupted. She had been trapped in the vision, but aware of what was happening outside. The guilt crawled up her throat now as Liam's words replayed in her head, "curse… dangerous."
"I need some air," Erin muttered, forcing a dry laugh. "Even though we're already outside. I guess I need the air… over there." She turned and began walking away.
She had only taken a few steps when she froze.
"Do you feel that?" Jayden's voice came from behind.
Erin didn't answer because she already felt it first. The ground trembled beneath them with a low, menacing rumble. It was as if something alive was moving underneath.
The monoliths shook violently, more cracks spreading across their fractured surface as purple dust swirled into the air in thick clouds.
Erin's eyes widened as she already knew what this meant.
"They're coming."
The wasteland split open thirty meters away, the ground ripping apart. Debris exploded upward before crashing back down. From the jagged fissure, a massive claw, like that of a crab, slithered into the air.
Erin's jaw dropped. The claw alone was enormous, and it was only part of the beast. The ground shattered further, opening wide. Then, with a horrible screech, a creature hauled itself out.
It looked like an Earth crab, but grotesquely mutated, monstrous, and huge. The size of a small house, and its armored legs left cracks on the ground with each movement.
It let out a deafening shriek, a sound so piercing that they all clamped their hands over their ears. Then its gaze darted around as if it were searching for something. Then slowly, it locked eyes with Erin. Her heart skipped.
"RUUUUUN!"