The Last Dainv

Jacob led the charge toward the basement, ramming through any ghoul that got in his way. His fear debuff was still active, turning him into a fearless bulldozer that was just constantly screaming at the top of his lungs. Bernard followed close behind, slicing ghouls in all directions that neared them. Andrew came next, then Mia, then Jessica.

Yuri had split off from the group, her flaming axe drawing the attention of the ghouls that tried to flank them. She was buying them time.

They reached the basement door.

Jacob grabbed the handle and pulled, only to see the chains on the handle. "What the fuck?! Whoever the fuck put these chains here is an idiot!"

Mia stayed quiet. It definitely wasn't her that did it. Nope. Must've been the ghouls that did it. Not her at all.

Bernard's head snapped in the direction of the cabin, but he was looking through it. "I feel a signature. Something just awakened out there. Much stronger than any of the monsters we've seen."

"That could be our friend, Gale," Mia said.

"Shut the fuck up!" Bernard snapped. "How could that be your friend when it's only been an hour or so? Where the fuck was he even when you texted him?!"

"In Portland, Maine."

"Think, Mia. Even Resonants can't fucking run that fast! And the highway is even slower!"

"Shut the fuck up and help me with the chains!" Jacob was fumbling with the metal links. The chain was completely tangled by the looks of it, as his butterfingers complicated it even more.

More ghouls emerged from the fog, drawn by the shouting and the chains clinking. They sprinted forward in a rising groan, making the air smell like rotten shit.

Bernard stepped forward, shovel raised. He cracked one across the skull, sending it tumbling backward. Another lunged at him. Mia sent a psychic wave, stunning it long enough for Bernard to chop its head in half.

"Jessica! Help Jacob!" Mia shouted.

Jessica rushed to the basement door. Her nimble fingers easily found the pattern of the entanglement, and within seconds, she smoothed out the chains. One last pull from Jacob, and the basement door was free.

"It's open! Everyone in! Go, go, go!" he shouted.

Andrew went first, practically diving down the stairs. Mia followed, and Jessica was right behind her.

Bernard stayed at the door, shovel swinging at any ghoul that got too close. "Yuri! Hurry!"

Across the clearing, Yuri heard him. Her axe carved through three ghouls in a single horizontal arc, blue flames trailing its edge.

In one pounce, she drove through the door. Bernard followed immediately, pulling the door shut behind him. His head darted around everywhere, landing on a metal pipe leaning against the wall. Grabbing it, he shoved it through the two inner door handles, shutting it closed completely.

The ghouls slammed into the door from outside. The metal groaned but held. The pipe rattled in its makeshift lock but stayed in place.

Then they all felt it.

The signature that Bernard sensed earlier fell onto the whole cabin and its surroundings. It was above them, and its sheer presence made it hard to breathe.

In half a minute, it arrived and caused an explosion that shook the whole cabin and the basement they were in. Dust rained down from the ceiling. Wooden beams creaked, and glassware clinked against each other.

As the rumbling stopped, the only thing they heard was the sound of silence.

"That could be Gale," Mia whispered.

"Shut up," Yuri hissed. "Don't make any noise."

Everyone shallowed their breathing, not daring to move a muscle. The basement was pitch black except for the faint ray of light that came from the crack of the basement door.

There were no groans, no witchy laugh. Even the helicopter noise had been deafened.

"The monsters might have fought against each other. Heard that happens in rifts a lot. Territorial disputes," Bernard whispered.

"We should check it out then," Jacob said.

"No." Bernard whispered harshly. "We have to survive one more day. At all costs. Even without food."

"But I don't hear anything with my innate skill," Andrew said. "It should be safe."

Yuri shook her head. "Nuh-uh. We don't know what's up there."

Suddenly, a sound came from the basement door.

Clink.

Something was trying to get in. Something was testing the handle, pulling against the pipe that held it shut. Then it knocked, seemingly polite. Three times too.

They didn't respond. Again, it knocked three times politely. After the second set of knocks they didn't respond to, the thing behind the basement door became more impatient. The knocking became a constant noise that tore at their sanity.

But just as fast as it came, it stopped.

Mia let out a deep breath. As others were about to do the same, the basement doors were violently ripped out of their hinges.

The metal pipe snapped like a twig. The doors flew off their hinges, sailing through the air and crashing through the cabin's roof above them. Sunlight beamed down through the door, mist no longer there. The figure stood at the top of the stairs, a silhouette, human shaped, wreathed in darkness that seemed to have a mind of its own.

Bernard shot forward before anyone could stop him. "HONOUR IN DEATH!"

But Mia recognized the silhouette almost immediately as her eyes got used to the light.

"GALE!" she shouted.

"GALE!" Andrew and Jacob echoed.

Gale's foot came up and caught Bernard's ankle mid-charge. The crew cut haired Bernard went down hard, face-first into the dirt. His shovel skidded away, hitting the wall of the cabin.

The darkness around Gale dissipated, revealing the adorkable face that he always had. His eyes looked like they were trying to figure out why Bernard had jumped at him with something about honour.

"Are you guys okay?" Gale turned to his friends, looking past the groaning Bernard to Mia, Andrew, and Jacob.

"We're okay!" Mia rushed forward and threw her arms around him. Andrew and Jacob joined in, turning it into a group hug. Surprisingly, Gale's sturdiness didn't even let up with the 3-person group hug. After a couple of seconds, they let go of him, looking satisfied.

Yuri stared at Gale. "Who the hell is that?"

"Our backup," Andrew said.

Bernard pushed himself up from the floor, spitting out dirt. "How the fuck did he get here so fast?!"

"I ran," Gale said simply.

"Why didn't you say that was you behind the door?" Mia asked.

"Communications 101," Gale nodded. "You wait for the other side to ask who's there first."

"Gale, we seriously need to teach you better communications. Don't read those internet articles," Mia said, facepalming.

Yuri stepped forward, her axe lowered beside her as her eyes saw all the decapitated ghouls, vertically sliced dullahans, and exploded helicopter that was still burning. "Are you the one who killed all the monsters out there?"

"Who else would it be?" Bernard scoffed. "He's an Attuned. Early stage, from what I can tell. Now our marks are totally fucked because we called in someone way above the test parameters."

"Actually," a voice came from the tree line, "your marks are fine."

Everyone spun around.

Kyle and Clyde emerged from the woods, their suits slightly dishevelled along with their hair that looked like they'd scratched their heads like madmen. They walked casually, hands in their pockets, like they were strolling through a park.

"The proctors," Bernard spat, glaring at them. "The most disgusting, vile humans in existence. Remember these faces, men."

"Shut up," Kyle said cheerfully.

"Sup Gale," Clyde waved.

Gale waved back.

Kyle clapped his hands together. "Alright, listen up. Everyone here passes."

Everyone except Mia and Andrew's mouths gaped.

"First time in history," Clyde said, "that no one has gotten injured or died in our recruitment facility. Congratulations."

"Everyone is entered into the A-Path of Sterling Institute," Kyle continued. "That's the advanced track, in case you were wondering."

"But-but we called in backup! That should have docked our points! We broke the rules!" Bernard shouted, surprised.

"Shut up," Yuri hissed at him.

Kyle wagged his finger. "Did any of you actually read the mission briefing?"

Clyde stepped forward. "Path mission rule number one. Do not over-complicate the briefing."

Kyle grinned. "Path mission rule number two. Survive at all costs." He pointed at Mia and Andrew. "And it turns out, calling for backup counts as surviving at all costs. You two get twenty meal vouchers for your first semester for coming up with that idea."

"That's ridiculous!" Bernard shouted.

"That's how the game works," Kyle shrugged. "Follow orders. Do what's required. Don't do more than what's required. Capisce?!"

"Capisce!" Gale repeated.

Clyde stared directly at Bernard, grinning at him mockingly. "Rift rule number one. Curiosity killed the cat."

Bernard's face flushed with anger. "Those aren't real rules! You're just making them up!"

"Hey buddy buddy buddy" Kyle snapped his fingers three times. "If you can maintain a 100% rift return rate, you get to start making up rules."

"That's not even a real statistic..." Jessica muttered.

"Hey, can't really complain against vets," Yuri said.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Idiots!" Bernard yelled, sighing in the face of defeat.

Gale's head turned slightly toward the cabin. He sniffed the air. "I smell food. I'm hungry after all that. That smells good..."

Kyle and Clyde's expressions shifted. They each placed an arm around Gale's shoulders and let out long, heavy sighs.

Mia frowned. "Are you guys okay?"

"Don't ask," Kyle and Clyde said simultaneously.

The group walked through the terminal at a casual pace. After a long chaotic flight with Gale needing constant snacks and attention on the plane, the group finally arrived at Cardiff Airport, Wales.

He was finally on solid ground again. None of that magical flying contraption they called 'Airplane'. How could that even fly when its weight was in the hundreds of tons?! It was absolute madness.

"Never again," he muttered.

"You said that last time," Rachel said, walking beside him. "You'll get used to it."

"And I meant it last time."

"You also said that the time before."

Kyle groaned from behind them. "Bruhhh. If we weren't in the airport right now, I'd say a lot more stuff about your boy's behaviour."

"Leave him alone. He's still getting used to it," Rachel said.

"6 hours, Rachel," Clyde said. "I saw the man getting more snacks than me. Why didn't I get any?!"

"Shut up, Clyde," Lily muttered.

"I had to use up some of my emergency Twinkies!" Clyde yelled. "Does this country even have Twinkies!?"

"Buy it from Amazon," Lily said.

"Those are rip off prices and you know it!"

Rachel extended a Kinder Bueno bar to Gale. "Here. Good job for making it alive."

Gale swiped it from her hand. Opening it immediately, he also peeled off the plastic that trapped the wafer. Taking one bite, he smiled. "No flying death trap will hold me down."

"Seriously?" Kyle asked.

"Seriously," Gale said, then his eyes turned to the floating bluey faking her walk. "Why couldn't Erin just fly us over?"

"It is against Aur laws," Rachel answered. "You can't just fly over vast amounts of ocean. Air routes might be congested with mundane aircraft."

"There was an incident back in 2045," Clyde said. "Some Aurian tried to fly across the Atlantic on his own. Got sucked into a plane engine mid-flight."

"Caused a mayday alert. The plane had to make an emergency landing. United Knights had a nightmare trying to cover that one up," Kyle added. "Took them three months of propaganda and altering the flight records."

Lily tilted her head at him. "I'm impressed. You actually know your history."

Kyle flipped her off. "I'm still part of numero uno special squad duo."

"Speaking of which, do you two even have a job right now? I thought you said you weren't coming to the summit?" Rachel asked.

"We're suspended," Kyle said.

"For a month," Clyde added.

"But we managed to negotiate only a thirty percent reduction in pay during the suspension."

"Thirty percent?" Lily whistled. "That's actually impressive. How'd you manage to convince Carl?"

"We begged," Kyle said.

"Obviously," Clyde said. "How else?"

Lily tilted her head. "Really? What did that look like?"

Rachel grinned. "Yeah, I'd love to hear about this. Maybe you could reenact it for us?"

Kyle stopped walking.

Then, without warning, he dropped to his knees in the middle of the airport terminal, causing people to start staring. Some of the kids even stopped walking to have a look, tugging at their parents to stop.

"Carl!" Kyle wailed, his voice cracking dramatically. "Please! We didn't know! How were we supposed to know that the recruits were friends with the Dark Hunter?!"

"Kyle, get up!" Rachel squealed.

"We'll do anything!" Kyle continued, grabbing at the hem of Clyde's jacket. "Anything! Just don't fire us! We have families to feed!"

Lily tried to grab him by the shoulder to force him to get up. "People are watching! Idiot!"

Kyle stood up, brushing off the dirt from his suit with a clear smirk on his face.

"Didn't you want him to reenact it?" Clyde asked.

"Why would he be an idiot!" Lily yelled.

"You think I won't? Tsk, tsk, you two don't know me well," Kyle said.

"Ugh! Idiot!" Rachel hissed.

"Man's got no shame," Clyde said.

"Fuck you, bro."

"We hate you," Rachel and Lily said at the same time.

"So yeah. That was pretty accurate. Didn't have my fake tears with me though," Kyle smirked.

"You guys are horrible people," Rachel said.

"Still worked though," Clyde said.

"Yo, why didn't we just take your family's private jet anyways?" Kyle asked.

Rachel sighed. "Grandmother needed it."

"For what?"

"I don't know."

"You should've asked."

"I did."

"And?"

"She didn't tell me."

"Your life sucks."

"Shut up, Kyle."

Lily walked faster to fall into step beside Gale. "Have you been to Wales before?"

"No." Gale shook his head.

As far as he knew, this was part of a bigger island. It was his first time going to this country. From the pictures he saw on the internet, it had kind of a dull nature side of things. However, the towns looked much more homely than the urban sprawl of Toronto. And from the way the terminal looked compared to Pearson Airport, life in this place called 'Wales' would probably be a lot simpler than back home.

Glancing around the vicinity, the stores throughout the terminal had an aesthetic that told him they might have been from half a century ago. It was either a choice by the airport designers or a lack of money. For Gale, his apartment had been always shabby due to his lack of money though... and then he noticed something.

There was no blue in their group. Darting his head left and right, he was right. Erin was gone.

Presence Between's tendrils cast out throughout the whole airport. It found Erin was left behind a hundred meters back, occupied with what looked like a self-service kiosk of a McDs.

"Rachel," Gale said.

"Hm?"

"Erin's gone."

Her head turned around and saw that the floating bluey was gone. "UGH! Where is she?"

"She's at the McDs we passed by," Gale said.

"Ugh!" Rachel grunted. "Everyone, follow me!"

"Oh shit, where's floating bluey?" Kyle asked.

"Just follow!"

Gale followed Rachel, and the others followed closely behind. Her speed was almost at a run's pace, but she held herself back as the terminal goers stared while they passed by.

After a couple of minutes of walk-running, Erin was exactly at the McDs kiosk that Gale had located her at, still with her phone in hand, repeatedly tapping it against the payment terminal like it was going to do something.

And nothing was happening. She just kept doing it, and Gale could understand. He would've probably done the same thing if he didn't have the light of the city's guidance!

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.

"Have you no eyes? I am attempting to pay for the science I am about to consume," Erin said. "The transaction is not passing through. The technology of this world is utterly primitive."

"Did you double tap the power button?"

Erin looked down at her phone. She double tapped the volume button.

Nothing happened.

"The phone is broken," Erin said.

Rachel sighed and pointed at the side of the phone. "That's the volume. The power button is on the other side."

Erin rotated the phone, located the power button, and double tapped it. The screen lit up with the payment interface. She held it against the terminal again.

The kiosk beeped, which meant the kiosk accepted.

"Technology would be much more efficient if it could be directly interfaced with," Erin said. "The requirement of physical manipulation is a waste of cognitive resources. Technologies for this are already available at Lab 7. It is highly inefficient for the larger populace to be subjected to these inferior methods."

"That's not happening any time soon," Rachel said.

Gale looked at the kiosk screen. "Psst. Erin. What'd you get? Did you get the quarter pounders?"

"A cheesy bacon flatbread." Erin tilted her head slightly. "The nomenclature does not make sense. Why would bread be flat? Bread by its nature rises. A flatbread is a contradiction. I must consume it. For science."

"For science," Gale whispered.

"Correct."

Lily stepped up beside them, eyeing the kiosk. "Well, since we're already here anyway, and idiot number two is complaining about snacks, might as well get something."

"Not my fault the attendant didn't give me any snacks," Clyde muttered.

"True that," Kyle said as they glanced at each other.

In unison, they moved closer to Lily.

"Lily," Kyle said dramatically.

"Our dearest Lily," Clyde said, also dramatically.

"No."

"You don't even know what we're going to ask!"

"You're going to ask me to pay for your food."

Kyle and Clyde exchanged a glance. "Shit man, she knows us."

"You're still getting paid," Lily said. "Thirty percent reduction is not one hundred percent."

"But we're suspended!"

"Suspended with pay!"

"Lily... please!" Kyle and Clyde said simultaneously.

Without warning, both twins dropped to their knees simultaneously.

The airport travelers around them started staring again. A security guard in the distance looked their way, his hand moving toward his radio.

"Get up!" Rachel hissed, grabbing Kyle's arm.

"Oh my god, stop this!" Lily tried to pull Clyde to his feet.

"Please, Lily!" Kyle wailed. "We're broke!"

"You're not broke!"

"Emotionally broke!"

"Who'd believe that shit?!" Lily yelled.

"Fine! I'll pay! Just get up!" Rachel shouted.

"No, I'll pay!" Lily said. "Just use my kiosk! Order on my kiosk! Get up! Get up, now!"

Kyle and Clyde rose to their feet in perfect unison, their sad expressions instantly replaced with grins. They fist pumped each other.

"Works every time," Kyle said.

"Every single time," Clyde nodded.

"Idiots..." Rachel muttered.

"I hate both of you," Lily muttered, stepping up to the kiosk and logging into her McDs account via QR code.

Gale moved to Rachel's kiosk, standing beside her to look at the menu on the screen as she scrolled by. The pictures of burgers already made him drool and his stomach growl. The Kinder Bueno might be pure calories, but it wasn't enough. The best kind of calories is the kind that's greasy and cheap.

"Four quarter pounders, please," he said.

Rachel tapped it in without further comment.

"What are you getting?" Gale asked.

"Twenty piece spicy nuggets."

Gale looked at her. "You sure you want the spicy ones? There's non-spicy."

"I want the spicy ones." Rachel crossed her arms. "You need to start building up some tolerance for heat."

"I have tolerance for heat." He could now drink hot soup without blowing more than twice.

"Soup is not hot."

"The soup is physically hot, so yes, it is."

Lily tapped on her own kiosk. "I'm getting the pancakes with sausage... haven't had McDs in a while."

"Nice pick. Classic high calories. You need to gain some weight," Kyle leaned over her shoulder.

The comment earned him an elbow from Lily. "Order your food or I'm canceling everything."

Kyle quickly tapped in his order. Two double cheeseburgers. Clyde did the same. Two double cheeseburgers.

Both groups moved to the pickup counter. Compared to Pearson Airport, this place was basically empty. There were still several travellers that passed by, but far and few between.

Kyle leaned against the counter, looking at Gale. "So, real talk. Did you always eat that much? Like, even back in the wild?"

Gale thought about it for a second. Their family naturally ate a lot. Even dad would eat half a deer by himself. "In the wild, I think I could eat a quarter of a deer by myself every day if I wanted to. But I might get fat."

Rachel's head snapped toward him. "A quarter of a deer?"

"Yup."

"That's... a lot. A quarter of a deer is a lot of meat."

"You don't know when you'll get your next hunt."

Lily tilted her head. "Are there even deer in Wales? Like, if you needed to hunt?"

"What're you saying?" Clyde asked.

"I mean, if Gale could eat a quarter of a deer. Why not test that out?" Lily asked.

"I'd be kind of curious too..." Rachel said.

"Well shit. That's interesting, and yes there's deer in Wales," Kyle said.

"The hunt is on?!" Gale asked.

Rachel flicked his forehead once.

"Ow..."

"Not yet," Rachel said. "Maybe later."

"The hunt is on... later!" Gale said.

Erin spoke up. "The young lamb's consumption of a quarter deer per day constitutes no surprise."

Rachel turned to look at her. "What does that mean?"

"His body requires significantly more calories than the average. That is all."

"That's not an explanation."

"The explanation requires no further need for an explanation."

"That wasn't an explanation! That's just a statement! How is that even an explanation!?" Rachel grumbled, making weird noises in her exasperation.

"I have stated the relevant facts. Further elaboration is unnecessary."

Before Rachel could argue more, the counter staff called out their order numbers. Bags of food were set on the counter, along with a tray holding drinks that no one had ordered but Lily had apparently added anyway.

They gathered their food and found a cluster of empty tables near the windows. The view outside showed the grey Welsh sky, planes taxiing on the runway, and a light drizzle that had started to fall.

The weather looked gloomy. Rainy and cloudy. The pictures on the internet did say this place was always gray. It wasn't the kind of gray like the Toronto winter. Well, at least in winter, Toronto would have some beautiful snow that would cover the landscape.

Sitting down and opening his first quarter pounder, the smell of ketchup hit him immediately with its tangy goodness. Compared to the grocery store bought ketchup, McDs ketchup had this sweeter taste that he couldn't find anywhere else.

It was addicting.

He took a bite, taking at least 1/4th of the burger with it. The next bite was bigger than the previous, eating 2/4th's of the burger, only the last remaining quarter was left.

"What?"

"Nothing." She shook her head and opened her nugget box. "Just watching you inhale food. It's kind of impressive."

"It's so good. You want a bite?" Gale extended her the remaining 1/4th of the burger.

Rachel took a bite, but her bite was small, barely even taking half of the remaining burger. She needed to open her mouth wider and be more aggressive with her bites.

"Rachel, I think you need to open your mouth wider," Gale said.

"What?!" Rachel suddenly said, surprised.

"Your bites are too small." Gale pointed at the twins who had already devoured most of their first double cheeseburgers. "Look at them. They eat efficiently."

Rachel sighed. "Girls don't eat like that, right, Lily?"

Staring at Lily, she had stuffed one of the three pancakes she had into her mouth. She mumbled, "What? I'm hungry."

"The bread is indeed flat," Erin announced. "This confirms the nomenclature but does not explain the reasoning."

"It's just a name," Rachel said.

"Bread rises therefore bread cannot be flat. If you look at the geometry of this 'flatbread,' it is not flat. It has content in it that defeats the nomenclature, yet paradoxically, only the bread is flat, but not the contents. Fascinating."

"It's McDs."

"That is not an excuse for linguistic imprecision."

As Gale was halfway through his third burger, he heard Lily gulp loudly and take a sip of her drink. She stood up and waved at two women who were passing by.

"Ashley!" she called out, waving.

Gale looked up. A woman was walking past McDs, a rolling suitcase trailing behind her. She had long dark hair that waved at the end by her waist. She wore a casual black hoodie and black sweatpants with sneakers.

Beside her was another woman with orange hair, the kind of person that Kyle and Clyde called 'ginger'. She wore a leather jacket, a white shirt underneath, and skin tight blue jeans with heels.

"Oh shit, hey Lily!" the orange woman said. "And who's this? Rach with her boyfriend."

Rachel coughed. "What? He's not! I mean, he's a friend that's a boy!"

"Whatever, fire cheeks," Kyle said as he ate the last bite of his second burger.

"Hey, Lily. You look like you're having fun," the dark haired woman said.

"Just eating before going to the summit. Did you two just arrive?"

"Yup. About to head to the taxis."

Gale tugged at Rachel's sleeve, hiding behind her. "Rachel, who are these?"

"Aww, how cute. He's hiding behind her," the orange woman said.

Rachel cleared her throat. She gestured with her hand to the dark haired woman. "Gale, this is Witch Ashen, you can call her Ashley." Moving her hand to the orange haired woman, she continued, "This one is Witch Ember, but you can call her Amber."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Gale Hathie," he said.

"At least he's got some manners, unlike that Elisworth dude," Amber said.

"Didn't that guy visit a few months ago?" Ashley asked.

Amber looked at Rachel. "You sharing the gossip, or nah?"

"No," Rachel said, her cheeks flushing.

"Booooring," Kyle said.

"Oh, hey Path twins. Heard you got suspended," Ashley said.

"We still talking opportunities?" Clyde asked.

Ashley smiled. "Talk about it later. Maybe during the summit."

"Heck yeah," Kyle and Clyde fist bumped each other.