We'd already been walking for quite a while since our last conversation ended, and I can tell you that all the paths ended up looking very similar, especially where we were.
Krax told us about the place—the eleventh floor, the Hanging Floor—which is a bit peculiar, a place where gravity shifts in certain areas, making it even easier to get lost. Luckily, Krax knew the way back, so he took the lead.
He claimed to be a mercenary, but he's still hiding things.
"Hey!!"
I said, almost shouting; I was quite far behind. How could they have so much energy? Especially Kaelen.
"We can't slow down, l…"
"And, — he sighed—, why not?"
I said again, this time cutting him off and breathing as if I were suffocating.
Krax only got slightly annoyed, letting me know by the change in his tone of voice.
"This floor has set opening and closing hours, and we'd better not be here when it closes"
That last sentence piqued Kaelen's curiosity.
"Why?What's hidden on this floor?"
A question that took time to answer as he jumped down onto another path.
"Come down, it won't be long now"
"Really?"
I said excitedly as I followed Kaelen down.
"Sure, we only have two more hours left"
"Fuck off"
"Oh, right, and to answer your question, Kaelen, on this floor there are creatures that devour the lost; we call them head-breakers. They constantly send out signals into the environment, which, combined with the numerous paths and shifting gravity, means that the longer the prey stays here, the more lost they'll be. It's a headache dealing with them"
"If they attack us, we'll just have to sacrifice you"
I said jokingly; I must say I like to tease him, unlike Kaelen, who's always sarcastic.
"If we have to sacrifice anyone here, it'd be you"
"Me? Why not Kaelen?"
"I didn't ask for anything"
"The anthropomorph and I can protect ourselves just fine, but you don't even have a weapon"
"Haha, yeah, Kaelen lost his arm"
"Why are you dragging me into this conversation?"
"And you're forgetting that I was the one who defeated you and that I have your weapons"
Krax stopped, turning around to face me and confronting me face-to-face. I could see more clearly the physical difference between us—he was a head taller than me, and his muscles were those of someone who had trained from a very young age. You could see the scars on his arms and a burn on the right side of his face that ran from below his eye to his ear, down to his cheek.
But his face was delicate with red pupils; that's why I think he's hiding things. How can his body be so worn out while his face looks so beautiful?
"Why are you staring at me like that?What's going on?Are you eating your words?"
A few words he threw at me while letting a smug smile slip onto his face; he'd managed to hurt my pride, and I couldn't let it end like that.
So I also flashed the same smug smile, puffing out my chest.
"What?Did the rock to the head make you deaf too?"
— It was a rather embarrassing spectacle to watch, especially for Kaelen, who was watching two fools fight over who had the bigger one.
Even so, their walk continued, but this time Kaelen, being in the middle, had to endure listening to them yell and insult each other; for someone lazy who liked peace and quiet, it was pure torture.
But that would also bring them trouble; a creature was lurking in the distance.
More than an hour and a half had already passed. Obi and Krax had finally stopped insulting each other, leaving a silence for the minutes that followed. They were angry with each other, but for Kaelen, there was no better situation.
They were almost at the exit —.
"They're following us"
Those words were enough to quickly break the tension. He was already scanning the surroundings discreetly from where he stood, but the fog was too thick to see more than twenty meters ahead; that meant he could only rely on Kaelen's sense of smell.
"How many are there?"
Krax asked.
"About fifteen, but something's off."
"What do you mean?"
"The closer we get to the exit, the more of them give up on following us."
The image of lambs walking straight into the wolf's mouth flashed through my mind, because I knew what that meant: there is a respect for territory among predators, a hierarchy. The fact that fifteen of them were afraid to approach meant we were entering the territory of a much more dangerous creature.
"How much longer until we get there?"
I asked, keeping my cool and gathering my thoughts.
"Less than ten minutes."
That gave me little time to come up with a plan, and we couldn't stop—those creatures behind us wouldn't miss the chance to hunt us down. Wait, maybe that's not such a bad thing.
"I think I have a plan to get us out of this mess."