Rise of The Strongest Monarch

I take one last look around before heading up the ladder myself.

"What exactly are you waiting for?" Celeste asks with a bit of confusion in her voice.

It felt as if something was following us the whole time after all. I don’t know if I’m imagining things or not but it definitely wouldn’t surprise me.

"The goliath couldn’t possibly follow you guys through that small space," Celeste says before going quiet.

I don’t think it is the goliath that we should be worried about right now, but potentially a hybrid. At first I brushed it off since it could’ve been anything in this damn pit.

After a little bit of time I started to notice the same kind of presence making itself known to me again.

It just doesn’t add up since Airi or Zeno should’ve noticed it.

"A zierel capable of hiding it’s presence from specific beings? That’s new to me," Celeste says with a bit of interest in her voice.

Even you are learning new things about your kind, how great is that.

Shuffle!!! Shuffle!!!!

Footsteps rushing around in the distance as I put one hand into the ladder.

"Liam are you coming?" Amelia calls out from above.

My eyes remain locked on the distant opening we came from but nothing shows itself. It is definitely there somewhere but I can’t make them wait forever.

I make my way up the ladder, eventually catching up to Amelia who is just a bit behind the others.

The climb is definitely a bit exhausting but it isn’t anywhere near as bad as the pit walls themselves. It also should lead out of this damn pit that we’ve been in for however long it’s been.

Creeeeek!

I can hear something opening up above, almost like an iron door or hatch.

"Found the door out!" Airi shouts.

"Finally," Zeno says quietly.

"Looks like we’ll be out of the pit at last," Amelia whispers down to me.

"It’ll definitely be nice to be away from that hell hole," I respond quietly.

After a minute or so we make it to the hatch that she opened up and I can see her holding a small lantern.

She takes our hands and pulls each of us up, one after another.

"Liam give me a hand with this quick," Airi says while starting to lift the hatch lid.

"I got you," I reply while grabbing onto it.

Creeeeek!

Shut!!

The hatch is now closed and whatever is following us will have to open it back up. Just for extra security I manage to lock the hatch tightly.

I don’t know if the hybrid following is going to try to kill me or the others so it is best to keep it secure. Especially since Airi couldn’t even sense the thing following us.

I’d like to chalk it up to the infection playing its part in aiding me when I need the assistance.

Even if she doesn’t mean to help me that is... But she didn’t even know that a zierel is capable of doing that.

"We’re back on the surface," Amelia speaks up, interrupting the silence.

I look back towards her and realize I can see the buildings once again. Everything is back like we never left it in the first place; only difference is the pressure from before, it is gone.

No zierel seem to be lurking around either which is lucky considering what we learned about this place.

"We’ll find a decent spot to make a camp for a bit of rest and then we need to get the hell out of here," Airi says with a serious tone.

"You aren’t worried about the fact that we are neck deep in enemy territory?" Zeno asks, a more serious tone in his voice as well.

"We can’t push forward without the rest. Everyone is exhausted," Airi responds immediately.

Zeno lets out a sigh.

"Alright. I can’t argue with that at all but we need to take shifts," Zeno says while pulling out his pistols.

"Easy enough," Amelia speaks up while drawing her bow.

I don’t trust Zeno in the slightest so I don’t know what I’ll do when it comes to the shift order. Airi will most likely take shifts with him while I’m with Amelia.

Unless... The smarter idea would be to have one light bearer up while the other rests. Then we are least have one on standby no matter what happens.

It is definitely a better way to go about it then the previous ways.

I’d have to be paired up with Zeno... But Airi isn’t going to let that fly either since she seems to have her own issues with him. What could I suggest?

I continue to think on it as we look for a potential spot to camp out for a little while. It doesn’t take us very long since we’ve been pretty good at finding empty buildings.

"This old pharmacy will do," Airi says while opening the door.

We all head inside before she closes the door.

The place is a mess like every other building in this damn city.... it is good enough for us to stay in temporarily.

"Liam and Zeno can stay on a shift together while I go with Amelia," Airi tells us with a serious expression on her face.

I almost feel my jaw hit the ground.

"Wouldn’t it be better for us to be paired up?" Zeno questions.

"One of us needs to get rest while the other covers. It’ll be dumb if we both stay up and then sleep," Airi explains without missing a beat.

It is almost like she read my mind with that whole process.... Or did she really think about it the same way as me? I mean Airi is pretty smart so it isn’t that far off to assume she’d go with the same idea.

"Works for me," I chime in with a calm tone.

"Great," Airi responds with a casual tone.

With that set in stone, we begin to barricade what we need to before starting the shifts.