Later that morning, Tami woke with such sudden violence that for a mont it looked as though he had been launched out of a nightmare.
His eyes snapped open.
The first thing he saw was the sky.
Bright.
Fully illuminated.
Far brighter than it had any right to be.
For several seconds he stared upward in confusion before realization crashed into him.
"Oh no."
He bolted upright so quickly that his sleeping bag tangled around his legs. The movent nearly sent him face-first into the dirt as he stumbled free of the fabric and scrambled to his feet with all the urgency of soone who had just rembered an important appointnt.
"I’m late!"
Yuto, who was sitting against a nearby rock with his arms folded, slowly turned his head toward him.
His expression remained completely flat.
"Late for what?"
Tami froze.
The panic on his face flickered.
Then faltered.
"...Good question."
Silence followed.
Tami blinked once.
Then twice.
Gradually, another realization settled over him.
Nobody else appeared to be doing anything.
Yuto remained seated.
Maya sat nearby in her usual composed posture.
Their equipnt remained scattered around camp exactly where it had been earlier.
No one was packing.
No one was preparing summons.
No one looked remotely interested in traveling.
Tami frowned.
"Wait."
He pointed accusingly between them.
"Why are we still here?"
Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"What do you an?"
Tami stared at him as though the answer should have been obvious.
"We should’ve been on the road hours ago."
Maya shook her head slightly.
"We can’t leave yet."
That imdiately made Tami’s expression tighten.
"Why not?"
For a brief mont Maya remained silent.
Then she answered.
"Sothing is blocking the path ahead."
The annoyance vanished from Tami’s face instantly.
"What?"
This ti Maya hesitated for a second longer.
Perhaps searching for a description that would sohow make sense.
Eventually she gave up.
"A colossal vine beast."
Tami stared.
"A what?"
Maya folded her arms.
"I could describe it," she said, "but honestly, no description is going to prepare you for seeing it."
The statent sounded dramatic enough that Tami imdiately beca skeptical.
His expression practically announced it.
Yuto pushed himself upright and stretched, feeling several muscles protest after a sleepless night. His shoulders shifted with an audible crack before he rolled his neck and glanced toward the distant horizon.
"Speaking of which," he said, "it’s probably ti to check whether it’s still there."
Maya rose imdiately.
The motion was smooth and effortless despite the fact that she hadn’t slept either.
Then she turned toward Tami.
"Co with us."
Tami shrugged.
"Fine."
The three of them left camp together and began making their way across the wasteland.
The morning air remained cool, though the desert was already beginning its gradual transformation back into an oven. Long shadows stretched across the dunes and rocky terrain while the strange light overhead painted everything in muted shades of violet and gold.
As they walked, Tami continued talking.
"I still don’t understand why you’re both making such a big deal out of this."
Neither Yuto nor Maya responded.
Unfortunately, silence had never stopped Tami before.
"We’ve fought giant monsters already."
"We haven’t fought this one," Maya replied.
Tami waved dismissively.
"Okay, but at worst we just sneak around it."
He shrugged.
"Or run."
Maya glanced sideways at him.
The look alone contained enough aning that most people would have stopped talking.
Tami was not most people.
"This beast isn’t like anything we’ve faced so far."
Sothing about her tone finally reached him.
The confidence.
The certainty.
The complete absence of exaggeration.
For the first ti since leaving camp, Tami fell quiet.
The conversation died away.
Only the sound of footsteps remained as they crossed the desert.
Yuto exhaled slowly.
"I just hope it’s gone."
Maya’s gaze remained fixed ahead.
"So do I."
Yuto shoved his hands into his pockets.
"We’re already racing Shinto to the gemstone."
The mory of the man made his expression darken slightly.
Every hour they remained stalled was another hour Shinto could be moving closer to his goal.
"The last thing we need is a living mountain blocking the road."
Eventually the cliff appeared ahead.
The sight of it imdiately brought back mories from the previous night.
The basin beyond.
The creature below.
The overwhelming feeling of vulnerability that had settled over him the mont he’d seen it.
Nobody spoke as they approached.
The atmosphere seed to grow heavier with every step.
Yuto reached the edge first.
Slowly, he peered over.
The mont he saw the basin below, his shoulders sank.
"Still there."
Disappointnt mixed with unease in his voice.
The colossal vine beast remained exactly where it had been.
Unchanged.
Unmoving.
Its imnse body occupied the basin like a piece of the landscape itself, so massive that it seed less like a living organism and more like a natural disaster frozen in place. Thick masses of moss and tangled vegetation covered its enormous fra, while its skeletal head remained tilted slightly downward in an eerie imitation of sleep.
Its eyes stayed closed.
Thank every god that existed for that.
Tami stepped forward.
Curiosity overca caution.
He leaned over the edge.
Then stopped.
Completely.
His mouth slowly opened.
Nothing ca out.
The color drained from his face so quickly that Yuto almost found it impressive.
For several long seconds, Tami simply stared.
Motionless.
Silent.
The usual stream of comnts, complaints, and observations vanished entirely.
The sight below had stolen every word from him.
Maya imdiately grabbed his shoulder.
Without ceremony, she yanked him backward.
The sudden movent finally broke whatever spell the creature’s presence had placed over him.
Tami stumbled.
Blinking rapidly.
Breathing harder than before.
The three of them retreated from the cliff at once, putting distance between themselves and the basin below.
They didn’t stop until the edge was safely behind them.
Tami turned toward Yuto and Maya.
His eyes looked enormous.
He glanced back toward the cliff.
Then back at them.
Then toward the cliff again,
"How the hell are we supposed to fight that?"
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