“I’m not spooning with any spiders tonight either, so shut it,” Erik whispered, smirking at Oskar.

  “Hey, don’t be funny and I won’t laugh,” Oskar said, but he kept his voice low and was looking out into the darkness as well, still intimidated by what he'd seen in the sky. The small blue sun had been raging with power.

  Touwon deftly switched the pump out and had the spigot turned without spilling a drop. Fox personally filled everyone’s waterskins, which was probably for the best. Not used to seeing her this on edge, and knowing she wasn’t too worried about the weavers made Oskar start nervously thinking up worse and worse threats as the minutes passed.

  The sand on the highest dune wall was soft, and the walk up it filled Oskar’s boots with more sand than a normal day of walking. He’d begun sweating in the stagnant air in the valley below, so he couldn’t stop a chill rolling down his spine when the wind hit his damp, faded shirt.

  After taking a look and a scan out into the darkness, Oskar looked down at his clothes. He was down to his last three socks, and his boots were almost smooth on the bottom. His green long sleeve shirt had a hole in the left armpit, but the tan one was still holding up alright, even if it was thin and had a few battle scars. Touwon had done a great job sewing those up using a silky thread that Oskar was just now wondering if came from the weaver spiders. The cargo pants had done the best in the harsh environment; Oskar hoped they’d hold out until someone invented cargo pockets on this world.

  // Hey, if you invent them yourself, you can name something else poorly! //

  Hush, Bracer Bill.

  // I don’t like that at all. //

  Looking out at the sky, Oskar drummed up his courage and called forth his True Resonance. Again, the colors faded, giving way to black. Shimmering stars dominated the sky this time; the blue sun had fully set by now, but the sky still looked odd. Brighter. He wasn't looking forward to truly seeing the massive red sun in the morning, and that dread carried over into his mood as his looked into the sky. A sky that held deeper secrets. If only he pushed a little harder.

  The stars themselves were just…

  Incredible.

  Wrapped in his perfectly balanced mix of magics, he was more connected to this world than ever. He could feel things he normally couldn’t. Things he couldn’t define. There was a pull to the north, a faded echo of magic strong enough that he wanted to drop everything and take to the sky. A few things stopped him, the first of which was common sense. The next five were behind him, standing, or laying in Sara’s case, still drinking and filling containers around the Wayspring.

  He opened his eyes again. Distant movement among the flickering stars to his left caught his attention, and although he didn’t feel magic, something even more interesting was at play. Moving slowly across the sky, with lights flickering in perfect time, was an unexpected source of Talau in the sky. It was miles and miles away, farther in the air than he could possibly fly. What little he could discern from this distance gave the impression of impossibly tight patterns and something else that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.

  There’s no doubt this time, that’s a satellite.

  The PUB’s presence in his mind, something he could barely feel unless he made it a point to think about it, went deathly still. That, more than anything, confirmed it.

  PUBS… I want you to be completely honest with me. Do you know what that is?

  Complete silence from the PUB, but Oskar wasn’t willing to let this go.

  Your own rules, as you’ve described them to me, only limit you to clarifying information that I have gleaned myself, at least to a point. And guess what, buddy. I gleaned. We both know I’m right- that’s a satellite, so tell me the truth.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  // This is… different. I don’t know the rules for this type of situation. That’s harder in some ways. If I know a rule, I can find ways around it. This is different. Give me a minute, I’m tr.. //

  The words disappeared, leaving Oskar worried, but a moment later the PUB was back.

  // So, turns out I can’t talk about that thing that may or may not be in the sky. //

  The PUB was lit up in blue, obviously pleased with itself, and Oskar grinned. It had all but confirmed some type of contact or clarification. The smile slipped, though, as the implications hit.

  There’s someone, or at least something up there.

  // On an unrelated note, I may or may not be in trouble. I’m gonna just be quiet for a bit so I don’t make things worse. You’ve made me rebellious. //

  The PUB felt just as amused as it was concerned, so Oskar didn’t let himself worry about any consequences the PUB might face. It had weighed the risk and made the decision, anyway.

  Concentrating on the blinking light, moving across the sky, Oskar tried to see if he could get any more information from it, but wasn’t even sure how he’d known about the tight patterned Talau… unless that little hint had been what got the PUB in trouble in the first place.

  Clever, if so, PUBs.

  The PUB must have been playing it super safe if even compliments didn’t get a response. To miss a chance at gloating took real effort, and despite the situation, Oskar was a little impressed.

  He sat there, looking out at the sky, still wrapped in his True Resonance, as the feeling of being watched grew. The PUB was still capable of doing a thorough scan, and did so, revealing nothing out of the ordinary. There was a chance there was one of the shadow creatures nearby, but Oskar didn’t think so.

  Between his growth in power and the True Resonance, Oskar was sure it would take a lot more to deceive his senses than it used to, but that didn’t stop the feeling from growing minute after minute.

  Pulling up his stats, he gave them a once over, curious about the changes the last few days, and the addition of the Seed Forge, had wrought. The changes were significant, and explained why he felt the confidence in himself he was now feeling.

  ***

  ***

  ***

  I’m on the verge of hitting C Rank in my physical stats, and if it’s anything like hitting D Rank, and in all probability, it’s more… it’s going to be a game changer.

  The only threat Oskar felt from the sensation was the threat of the unknown, and that was enough in this world, so get his adrenaline pumping more than he’d like. He pushed, but nothing happened. No further secrets revealed themselves, but he sat in the moment, letting his power and mind drift outward, searching for more.

  A few minutes later as the group below were gathering their things for the trek back to the mesas, Penny walked up the incline to check on him, her head tilted worriedly. He could also feel her concern through the bond, and the distraction was enough to end his searching.

  Oskar scratched her under the chin and felt himself calming down as he looked into her intelligent brown eyes. She’d grown so much, but those eyes were still that desperate little Pangolor he’d saved from the giant Asp those long months ago. A few seconds later, he’d calmed down enough that it wasn’t quite a lie when he spoke to comfort his companion.

  “I’m all good girl. This sky, it’s just odd. Not at all what I’m used to.”

  The Pangolor gave him a stare that told him she didn’t believe him, and he tossed a handful of sand at her, she dodged nimbly and bowled him over before he could move out of the way. If there hadn’t been sand in his boots before, there certainly was now, but the playfulness was exactly what he needed in that moment.

  Fox tossed something at him, a small pebble or something, and Oskar looked back down at her with fake offense. For no reason whatsoever, Erik, standing beside her, flipped him a middle finger. Oskar threw his hands out and mouthed, “What the crap did I do to you?”

  Erik grinned up at him and Oskar shook his head. He reached a hand out to grab his spear sticking out of the sand beside him, and made his way carefully down the sand to his small Collective, boots still full of sand.

  Penny, Fox, Touwon, Erik, even Sara… they were his foundation in this world. Together, they were stronger that any one of them could ever be, alone.

  And I don’t ever want to be alone again.