Present day.

Calysa and Eeva sat impatiently in the grand chamber. Neither of their plates that the blue robed people had brought them had been touched, though Eeva anxiously sipped from her mug while Calysa tapped upon hers.

Finally, Aimos appeared from the spiral staircase. He stretched and thanked a servant that handed him a hot steaming mug of coffee. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the silver white chamber light.

"Ladies, what a pleasant surprise."

"Aimos how could you. How could both of you," Calysa snapped, looking back and forth at Eeva and Eeva's father.

"She wouldn't leave until she saw you, father," Eeva said as she swirled her mug of tea and dug her nail into a crevice in the table.

Aimos sat down and looked upon his province's Host with concern and admiration. Even with Aimos, Calysa was not afraid to speak her mind.

"You let him go out there on his own. Without help. Without saying goodbye. He's probably dead by now. You two are supposed to be descendants of some of the smartest people that have lived on this planet, yes? Can you start acting like it?"

Aimos laughed and sat at the table, and set his crown beside him next to documents that awaited him.

"What can I do to appease you, Calysa? I cannot deny someone their right to leave, and the boy wouldn't let me send anyone with him. He's honorable, that young man. And relax, I gave him a radio if anything goes wrong."

Calysa seemed calmed, but her thoughts were still dishevelled. She let out a sigh and glanced at Eeva, who was avoiding eye contact with her. Ever since the games they hadn't spoken. Calysa believed it was because Eeva was being a sore loser, but in reality, it was for something else.

"I think, Calysa, you underestimate my faith in that boy. He'll be okay. You of all people should know that," Aimos said, donning his glasses and sipping from his chalice. "He'll be back. This is his quest and his alone. And might I add, the fact that one Wolf remains in this world is not just his issue. It's everyone's issue. I have a feeling the reason he lives is not just random chance. We need to know why, for our safety."

Calysa grabbed her robes that rested on a chair and stormed out of the hall as Aimos resumed to reading papers strewn across the table. "He'll be alright. I think she's got a soft spot for him," Aimos said to Eeva once Calysa was gone, Eeva's eyes fixed on a sugar cube circling in her cup that had sunk to the bottom, dissolving from the heat.

"You do too, but that didn't stop you from keeping him here," She said to her father.

**

He felt down on his body. Not dust. Not melted. Solid. Intact.

He was alive.

How?

Lleyton looked upwards. The Field was not above him, but he knew he saw the blazing hot blue of the Field moments before, like a glimmering ocean before him. How could that be? How am I alive?

Suddenly the blue field of the Ring reengaged, illuminating the inside of the Ring slightly and shielding him from the outside Creatures of the Night. It had turned off the moment he rolled into the Ring, and was back on again. A malfunction? A mirage?

A miracle?

Panic set in again, and Aimos' voice rattled in his brain. Do not go in the Ring. At all costs.

Lleyton stood and looked around. He unclipped his pistol and reloaded it, but realized he was now swordless having used it as a steppingstone. He had his pistol with a couple dozen more bullets, his shield, and a bag of supplies which was intended to last until the northern Outpost of Orconia.

My watch, he thought to himself in excitement.

He frantically brought the watch to his face and started yelling into it, holding the red button on the side, shaking and twisting his wrist for the radio.

"Aimos? Aimos? Can anyone hear me?"

Terror set in. He whacked the watch with his free hand in futility.

"Anyone there? Hello?"

It was impossible, unthinkable. Aimos promised him the radio would work. Why wasn't it working? The watch was miraculously unbroken from his fall, but all he received was static. How could this possibly be going wrong for him, too?

Lleyton slunk along the Ring wall. His gouged legs and back and face and bones were healed, but it did little to comfort him. He was alive solely due to luck. And now my luck's ran out, he thought to himself, looking at his watch radio which failed to contact home.

Home. A place he was so willing to leave for petty, selfish reasons. He was disgusted with himself. He wondered what Eeva and Calysa were doing. He wondered if they even cared that he left. Now, he was truly, truly alone. He should have been grateful for what he had rather than leaving his second chance at life behind.

Is this how I trained you? Check your surroundings and pull yourself together.

Lleyton stood abruptly. His inner thoughts. But they weren't his. Whose were they? He was frightened, yet comforted. How was it possible to feel these opposing emotions at once? Who are you?

Check your gear, soldier. Time to move.

Lleyton obeyed, and rechecked his pistol and his surroundings. It was darkness all around, except for the blue glow from the roof of the Ring. He would use the darkness to his advantage. He prayed that the monsters Aimos had described to him had the same five senses he did. If they had a sixth which could detect fear, he would be dead before dawn.

I said check your surroundings.

Leyton rescanned around him, this time thoroughly. He could make out smaller square buildings scattered along the inner circle of the Ring with the help of the blue light from above, and there in the middle, taller buildings. And... a road to his left. It must have been the main road of the city. His eyes traced down the road into the depths of the Ring. At the end of the road was that... a speck of light?

That's better.

He kept his eyes glued to the light, but it was impossible to tell how far it was. There in the distance, did it flicker just now? He thought to himself.

Pistol in hand and shield on his back, he began running silently towards the centre of the Ring. Whoever is flickering that light flickered the Field. That's an ally, he thought to himself, mind racing.
And what if that was your imagination? Maybe you should secure the nearest building and hole up for the night.

Lleyton scoffed at his new inner coach and to himself. I might need twenty bullets just to take a building, let alone hold it off myself. We go forward.

To that light.

He continued along the side of the road, looking around, wondering where these monsters Aimos talked about were. The light was getting closer. It was definitely flickering. Lleyton guessed It was coming from a window of a gigantic abandoned plane, or what looked like a ship, the tips of its wings starting to take shape and outlined by the blue shimmer of the Field, the Field itself caressing the fin of it.

He was a hundred meters from the ship before he skidded along the dirt, taking refuge behind a nearby chrome outline of a blasted-out building.

Sweat beaded across his forehead. Shadowy figures lurched and marched along the perimeter of the giant ship, lumbering and moaning and stomping, at least twice Lleyton's height. The beings were massive, their heads elongated, their backs slouched, their arms dragging along the dirt. Lleyton was glad it was so dark that he couldn't make out all their features.

The light from the main window of the plane reflected disturbingly white fangs of the creatures, their bodies slick with fluid and what looked like blood. Remainers, as Aimos called them.

To Lleyton's horror, one of the monsters screeched and ripped off another's limbs, a frenzy ensuing, a dozen monsters sprinting with terrifying speed to the spot of the slaughter. The screeches and ripping pierced Lleyton's ears as he crouched behind his wall, holding his hand to his mouth to dampen the sound of his breathing. The light seemed to attract them there.

Suddenly off in his peripheral vision, a second light began flickering, where the ship met with the ground.

Looks like your ally set a diversion for you. Better move quickly before more come.

Lleyton breathed in deeply, ducked, and sprinted across the courtyard where the buildings met the giant ship. The beasts continued to feast, strips of meat and flesh were thrown into the air as they consumed one of their own. Lleyton kept his eyes and pistol on the animals as he neared the second flickering light.

And then he arrived, with a silent thud, his shoulder now against a bay door. He could not stay here long. He was completely visible now under the glow of the bright entry light. A smaller silver door to his left clicked open when he jiggled the handle. Inside was pitch black. He poked the nozzle of his pistol into the crack of the door, trigger ready to squeeze on anything that moved.

Before he entered, he checked behind him to make sure a Remainer hadn't followed him, and that's when he saw her.

Across the street was a little girl, her eyes fixed on Lleyton, crouched and grasping a portion of a caved in building. She had a yellow scuffed dress, the light from Lleyton's entrance barely touching her. Her dark eyes flickering in the limited light.

"What the..." Lleyton whispered to himself. He motioned to the girl to come to him. Could she see him? How could a child survive in a place like this? He thought to himself. He kept his pistol on the monsters, his head jetting back and forth from the monsters and the girl. Monsters and the girl. Girl and the monsters.

The girl slowly unfurled herself from the wall she clung to. Lleyton continued to desperately motion to her to come.

The frightened girl looked sheepishly at Lleyton, and then at the monsters.

"Come on, it's okay," he whispered across to her.
The girl slowly began walking towards him, with steady and hesitant steps.

"Quickly, c'mon."

Lleyton noticed the chewing and screeching began to subside from the pack of monsters. His heart sank, as he saw one of the monsters turn towards the second light illuminated on the ship. His light.

The monster's turn quickened, and underneath the full glow of the first light, Lleyton could make out its features. It was purple and slimy and resembled the worst parts of a human. Hair was in patches, its fangs filled with its gums, flesh dripping from the tips. Lleyton turned to the girl.

"Run, now."

The girl sprinted towards Lleyton, and so did the monster. The monster's screeches attracted more, like white blood cells to an infection. Lleyton unleashed a barrage of bullets on the first monster. It took four well placed shots to the head to bring down the leader. He wouldn't have time to take down another. They were freakishly fast for their size.

The girl leapt into his arms as he entered the door, a stream of Remainers smashing into the thick steel which Lleyton had just closed, inches from preventing him from doing so. He swung the latch down on it, grabbed a nearby steel beam and barricaded it.

"The light. Get rid of the light and they'll leave," the girl said to him calmly, pointing at the top of the docking bay they just entered.

Without hesitating, Lleyton shot the light above with his pistol, and shielded the girl in his arms as the crystal glass from the light showered down on them. Darkness once again took over his senses. The loud screeches outside the door began to subside, the girl's advice proving correct. Lleyton grabbed his temple and felt warm blood. His right ear was bleeding from the relentless screaming and screeching of the creatures.

Lleyton unclipped a magazine from his pistol and reloaded it. He grabbed the girl gently by her arm.

"Where's your family? How are you here?"

The girl silently looked back at him into his eyes, her dark eyes empty. Whatever she had been through had taken a piece of her. Lleyton could relate to her somehow.

A third light flickered, this time to Lleyton's right and from inside the ship. The light was flickering deep in the hallway of the docking bay. Down the hallway was a metallic elevator that Lleyton could make out, much like the one in Aimos' facility, the flickering light revealing it in bits. The girl and Lleyton looked down the tunnel.

"What's your name?" Lleyton asked the girl, again to no response. Lleyton sighed, and added, "Come with me."

The girl took his hand. Her hand was warm, but it somehow felt cold in Lleyton's.

The two made their way down the hallway, Lleyton shielding the girl's vision from the blood stains that lined the walls, bloody handprints seemingly everywhere. He was trembling, but tried to steady himself to keep the girl in his arms calm.

The elevator doors were open, as if waiting for them. The light of the hallway continuing to strobe. Lleyton laughed to himself in disbelief that days before he was lounging in a grassy field in the sun amongst ponds and trees, and now he found himself in some sort of hell, walking deeper and deeper into its depths. He wondered if he deserved this from the previous life he couldn't remember. Maybe he really died at the Field, and this was his judgement.

The two entered the elevator, and to Lleyton's surprise the floor was selected for him without him pressing anything on the panel. Research Division.

The elevator jetted backwards deeper into the ship, stopped suddenly, and then began to drop with extreme speed, coming to a stop deep below the ground. Before them was another silver hallway, and beyond that was a doorway with continuous white light. Lleyton knew whoever was guiding him was behind it. They had to be.

The elevator doors began to slide open, but to Lleyton's surprise the girl pressed a button on the panel to close the doors.

The doors slid slowly shut, and clicked both emphatically and eerily.

"We need to get off, we can't stay here," he explained to the girl, crouching to her level.

Shouldn't have taken the girl, Lleyton. I thought I always taught you to trust your instincts.

The girl turned to Lleyton slowly and looked up at him. Her face growing a freakish smile that chilled his very bones.

Her eyes began to stretch vertically. The whites of her eyes becoming unnaturally long and large and full of broken capillaries. Her pupils dilated to a pin. Her limbs cracked and groaned as her height began to exceed Lleyton's. Her teeth and gums grew into a sinister beastly snarl, her skin darkening to a purple, her clothes ripping away as nothing more than camouflage. Her hands were now claws of black and grey scythes, her muscles swelling and striated and straining.

An Imposter.

While any other person would have froze and cowered in the corner of the elevator awaiting their deaths, Lleyton was composed, albeit terrified. He unloaded his pistol into the monster's skull before it had fully transformed from its surrogate and past victim, but it continued to grow until it was as tall as the elevator itself, the bullets ineffective.

The monster swiped and screeched at Lleyton, knocking away his pistol and throwing him against the wall with amazing power. It jabbed its claws at him, but Lleyton was fast enough to swing out his shield and deflect the creature's attack. The creature continued to prod and poke at Lleyton, trying to rip the shield away from him, stabbing the shield and screeching within the enclosed box of the elevator, but he held on out of pure will and strength.

He knew he could not hide forever, though. His arms were tiring as they endured the creature's stabs and swipes. The Sea Steel shield screeched as the creature's claws scraped and sparked across.

Surroundings, soldier.

Lleyton looked around. The glass wall of the elevator behind him. It was thick, but not that thick. He estimated that the claws that stabbed at him would make easy work of the glass. He had a plan.

He tucked his head from around the shield, analyzing the claws of the creature. Both were cocked back and ready to fire. He would have to time it just right.

Now.

Lleyton sprung upwards just as the creature lunged both of its arms at him. The claws missed him and smashed through the elevator walls behind him, the creature screeching in pain as it was trapped in the shattered piercing glass. Lleyton ducked his way through the creature's legs to the panel of the elevator, frantically pressing the light green button to open. The doors began to slide.

He quickly forced his way through the small opening, his face inches away from the creature's jaws which were gnashing at him out of desperation and frustration and rage and hunger. The doors were completely open now, the creature trying to shake its way free from the trap Lleyton had laid. Lleyton began to frantically press the emergency close button to the elevator, and weighed his options of whether he should make a run for it down the hallway. One of the creature's claws lodged free, and it rapidly extended through the elevator door towards Lleyton, as the door finally began to slide shut. The creature screeched yet again with fury.

"Come on, come on," Lleyton yelled at the sliding doors which were taking an eternity to shut.

The second claw was free, and the creature launched itself at Lleyton.

Lleyton ducked behind his shield expecting an impact. Seconds passed and Lleyton looked up. The creature was pincered between the elevator doors as it writhed and screeched at Lletyon but unable to reach him, clamped between the metal jaws of the elevator. It began to move upwards, faster and faster and faster. It screeched and wriggled as half its body began to collide with the roof of the hallway, its other half still in the elevator.

Lleyton looked away and winced, as the screeching stopped, and a dreadful shredding sound sent shivers down his spine, purple spray drenching his back as the Imposter was ripped roughly in two.

Lleyton turned and made his way down the hall, shaking with adrenaline.

The door at the very end opened for him. His friend must have awaited. He entered, and strapped his shield on his back again.

Before him was a loft, with black bars almost resembling a prison. Behind the bars was lab equipment as far as the eye could see, computer monitors, papers scattered amongst tables, black gears and gadgets littered the floor on the inside. White tiles and green tubes and breathtaking technology awaited him. The door behind him shut close. He approached the black bars, and grabbed them, peering deeper into the lab. He squinted as he peered through, trying to make out anyone, trying to identify his ally.

"Hello?" He called beyond.

"Hello," A woman responded, appearing out of seemingly nowhere directly on the other side of the dark gate. She grabbed his hands in hers, fingers around the black bars and his wary fingers.