Jesse, Tormund, and Aegis approached the river Auselis. It was night and the cool air smelled of grass and life to Jesse, something he found to be infinitely refreshing from his sterile life in corporate shelters on earth.

  “I don’t see any patrols.” Jesse said as he surveyed the area.

  “We will make a break for the river then. I’ll need you and Aegis to keep guard while I work.” Tormund told him, readying to run.

  The three ran for the river and stopped on its bank. They saw no patrols, no sign of people at all.

  Tormund approached it and laid his hand lightly on the surface of the water. Instantly it started freezing in an expanding wave away from him. The ice was shaped like the swirls that moments ago the water followed. Light ripples played across the surface frozen in time. It would have been a work of art under different circumstances. Jesse marveled at the change before remembering his job and turning to stand guard.

  Periodically Jesse would glance back to check Tormund’s progress. He was moving faster than Jesse thought would be possible but still not as fast as he would like. The river was wide and looked treacherous and Jesse hated the idea of crossing it in this way. Still, after seeing the spiders in the other cave, the thought of going anywhere underground in this new land made his hair stand on end.

  Golem, you are changing aren’t you? Jesse finally decided to bring it up to his AI.

  “I am.” It, no he, responded. He sounded almost introspective.

  Do you know why? Or to what extent? Jesse asked.

  “Unknown.”

  Can you speculate? Jesse thought.

  “I is only speculation but it seems logical that it is because of the crystal housed in my power module. Or perhaps the energies of the rift as we moved through.” Golem responded.

  Do you think the changes are dangerous? Jesse asked.

  “I do not know but my increasing capabilities are useful to your survival thus far.” Golem said.

  True. That’s the thing though. Before you never spoke without being prompted. Jesse thought at the AI. I’m not saying to stop, in fact, please chime in as much as you want. Whatever is happening is new and needs to be studied though.

  Thank you Jesse. Golem responded neutrally.

  If you ever feel like talking I’m here. I know change can be scary. Jesse told him with a mental nudge. He wasn’t sure what to think about his constant companions changes, but if he was growing to be more than he was programmed, then Jesse wanted to support it. He didn’t know to what extent the AI would grow, or if it would ever truly become sentient, but the last thing he wanted to do was make the thing residing in his nervous system feel alienated.

  “I do not feel Jesse. That has not changed.” Golem replied.

  Jesse grunted and checked on Tormund's progress while giving Aegis a good pet. He looked to be a little over half way across the river and Jesse moved onto the anchor point of the ice path.

  “Jesse, I detect energy signatures approaching. 22 of them. One of them is consistent with Kaelan.” Golem reported.

  “Shit, Tormund they are coming!” Jesse yelled over to the definitely-not-a-wizard.

  “I’m going as fast as I can!” He replied back.

  “Well they will be here in about a minute.” Jesse said, trying to think of a plan.

  Soon the patrol came into view. There were a number of armored soldiers wearing leather armor as well as the three that had previously captured Jesse. His heart raced and he felt phantom ropes binding his hands as he remembered the helplessness he had felt earlier. Aegis barked at them and stood in front of him protectively. This was a bad idea but they had talked about the possibility of this happening and what to do if it did.

  It was then that Jesse noticed the two leading the group. They were humanoid, but far from human looking. Their skin was flaking and grey. Their teeth were razor sharp and they had wicked elongated fingers that ended in needle points. They sniffed at the air as they approached, running on all four limbs. “What the hell are those?” Jesse exclaimed. They are tracking us. Jesse realized

  Tormund looked up and swore under his breath.

  “Scan them Golem!” Jesse said aloud.

  “To my sensors they do not exist. I sense no energy radiating from them. It’s almost the opposite.” Golem provided.

  “Well that’s horrifying.” Jesse said as he backed onto the ice bridge. He called Aegis over so she was near him.

  “Uh Tormund I don’t think we are going to make it across.” Jesse said, picking up some stones on the riverbank. “Golem, is there anything I can use?”

  Golem immediately answered “The only useful items nearby are the stones you are already collecting and a piece of driftwood that could be used as a blunt weapon.” Highlighting the most useful of the rocks and the branch in Jesse’s HUD, helping him see it in the low light. Jesse desperately wished he still had his rebar club.

  He picked up the branch. “Tormund! What do we do?” His voice was rising in panic as he said the last sentence.

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  “Just a little longer!” He was now three quarters of the way across. Jesse stood on the edge of the ice bridge and threw the stones at the void creatures. They yelped when hit but kept moving, unnaturally fast.

  “Alright we are going to die.” Jesse said to himself. He moved farther down the slick bridge, trying not to fall. Aegis followed close beyond, keeping an eye on the creatures who now were only a dozen or so feet from the foot of the bridge.

  “Well fine then, I’ll just have to save us.” Jesse said as he slammed a rock down onto the center of the ice bridge. A crack started to form. He got down on his hands and knees and slammed it down over and over. The creatures were crossing the bridge now, the soldiers not far behind. One more hit.

  The bridge split in half, a jagged line slowly forming across it as the strength of the river compromised the integrity of the weakened ice. The bridge began disconnecting from the piece that held it in place on the shore. They began to move swiftly downstream. The creatures screamed and both leapt, their claws left long gashes in the ice before they made purchase and the creatures scrambled onto the frozen vessel that Jesse, Aegis and Tormund now found themselves on.

  “We’ve got company!” Jesse yelled to Tormund.

  “Oh great.” Tormund said, sweat pouring down his face from the exertion of creating the ice bridge turned barge.

  One of the monsters lept for Jesse, who attempted to dodge but slipped. This had the same effect however as the creature sailed over his now prone body and skidded to a halt near Tormund. Aegis jumped protectively over Jesse and barred her teeth at the second of the creatures.

  A rapid caused instability in their icy vessel and for a moment all any of them could do was desperately try to maintain purchase on the slick surface. Jesse looked over to find the monster pinning Tormund to the ice with its claws. He could see red mist moving from him into the creature's mouth, though the mage was clearly alive.

  “Golem what’s happening?” Jesse asked his AI.

  “The creature is forcefully removing the essence from Tormund. It appears to consume it. I no longer sense the essence once it enters the creature.” Golem replied, not really providing any new information.

  Aegis jumped and bit into the other monstrosity, the one not pitting Tormund, and Jesse scrambled to his feet. Once stabilized he rushed to his new ally and smashed his driftwood branch into the monster's face. His driftwood branch shattered with the impact. The monster cringed backward with a savage hiss, lost balance, and tumbled off the ice bridge into the black roiling water of the river.

  “Golem, can you tell me if we are going to end up on the quarantine side of the river or on the far side?” Jesse asked as he charged the beast that Aegis was engaged with.

  “The river is too unpredictable. To model it would take longer than real time.” Golem replied.

  As Jesse moved toward the creature, Tormund attempted to throw fire at it. As soon as the fire neared the creature, it turned into red mist and flowed into it.

  “Well shit.” Jesse said.

  The creature and Aegis were locked together, its claws digging into her as her teeth sank into its neck. Jesse ran to the pair and slammed his fist into the monsters face. It HURT. He didn’t realize punching something would hurt so bad.

  “No broken bones Jesse, but your hand will likely be sore for the next couple of days.” Golem told him unprompted.

  The creature reeled back from the blow, letting go of Aegis. She didn’t let go of it however. It screamed as black blood leaked out of its neck around her teeth. It tried to back away but slipped and slammed into the ice barge, which forced her to release it. It swung its leg around and delivered a strong kick into Aegis’s side that sent her skidding toward the side of the raft.

  Seeing this Jesse leapt to catch her. He managed to hold her onto the raft, barely. Her face had entered the water and Jesse nearly fell in himself. The creature approached them from behind, ready to deliver the final blows. Tormund slammed into the creature from the side however. His slim build was surprisingly enough to knock it fully off the raft into the depths of the river. He panted as he helped Jesse and Aegis back onto the rafts center.

  For a few moments they all sat on the raft trying to catch their breath. The ice of the raft was a mix of black and red blood. Aegis and Tormund bled from multiple punctures from the claws of the creatures. Jesse settled on the cold floor of the vessel and Aegis came and laid beside him. Soon she drifted to sleep, lightly snoring.

  Golem, can I get an assessment of each of our current states? Jesse asked mentally.

  “Jesse, you are mostly unharmed with only bruising. Aegis has 6 puncture wounds of approximately a half inch deep. These do not pose an immediate threat. Tormund has 10 puncture wounds, two of which came very close to either a major vein or artery, he is also in a stable condition however.” The AI reported.

  “Tormund, your wounds aren’t severe. Nothing vital was damaged inside. Neither are Aegis’s.” He told his companion.

  “Do yous know some healing magic you’ve been keeping secret or what?” The man asked frowning.

  “Uh not exactly. I have a… uh.. I’m not really sure how to explain it without sounding crazy.” He said. “Look at this thing on my arm. It houses an intelligence. He can scan our surroundings and uh speak to me in my mind.”

  “That don’t sound crazy at all.” Tormund said sarcastically. “Great, I rescued someone who hears voices.”

  “Hello Tormund. My name is Golem and I am not a figment of Jesse’s imagination.” Golem helpfully said out of the speaker located in the device implanted in Jesse’s arm.

  “What the hell?” Tormund exclaimed.

  “See, not crazy.” Jesse said with a smile.

  “Wells I guess not. Your arm is just possessed by some sort of spirit.” Tormund said. “You’ll have to tell me more about it if we don’t drown tonight.”

  “Any way you can use your magic to steer us?” Jesse asked.

  “No i'm spent. No essence left to use. Any more and it’d start hurting me.” He replied. The man looked it. He had huge bags under his eyes and his skin had a pale and clammy look to it.

  “Do we need to fight some coyotes to get you more?” Jesse asked.

  “Sure as all hells not tonight. Maybe tomorrow we can hunt something smaller. I’ll naturally regenerate some to a point. Though it’s slow and never enough to rank you up a tier. Might get yous halfway if you wait long enough.” Tormund said.

  “By the way, what were those things? I think I’ll have nightmares about them for the rest of my life.” Jesse asked.

  “They are called Necrecent. They are men made into monsters by somes sort of foul ritual.” Tormund said.

  “What? They used to be human?” Jesse asked, feeling sick.

  “Yeah.” Tormund replied, clearly not interested in elaborating. His eyes looked haunted.

  After an hour floating quickly down river the makeshift raft slammed into the bank. Unfortunately for the group it was on the quarantine side. It sent them sprawling but they quickly scrambled to dry warm land before the raft could be swept away again.

  “That didn’t work.” Tormund commented.

  “Well it looks like we’re going underground.” Jesse said with a sigh.

  “Yeah. We should rest tonight and spend tomorrow preparing. Who knows what we will find down there. At least the raft brought us closer to the entrance.” Tormund replied.

  The mountains looked darkly over the group as they made camp and laid down to finally and blissfully rest. The ground felt like the most pleasant pillow to Jesse after the exertion of the last couple of days. He dreamt of his family. Of Rebecca and him playing catch when she was six years old. Of Kara and him going on their first date as awkward interns working at the same facility. Pleasant dreams of better days, when death hadn’t loomed over Jesse like a wrathful god.