I remain silent as I watch Alex, desolate, finish telling his story.

  I can’t believe everything he went through… I can’t even begin to imagine what he must have felt.

  I hesitate over whether to speak, when I notice the little girl approach him and take his hand, worried.

  “Thank you, Mir. I’m feeling better now,” he says, gently patting her head.

  “It seems you’ve been through a lot as well,” I finally say. “But you said that a gigantic beam of light split the storm… just like that, out of nowhere?”

  “Yes. It was an incredible sight… it’s still burned into my mind as if it had happened a second ago.”

  “I think I might’ve had something to do with that,” I say, recalling the overload of the Horizon Seeker’s reactor.

  “Really? Or is this just another one of your exaggerations? Like when you said the Purple Cat from the rival channel was stealing your ideas for her projections?”

  “It’s true! She uploads projections very similar to mine. And she still gets more views… because she’s a woman and, apparently, much more charming. Can you believe it?”

  “So… are you telling me that’s actually true?”

  “The cat thief part?”

  “No. The energy beam.”

  “Ah… that too. I’ll tell you the full story later.”

  After that brief, almost silly exchange, I notice that Alex seems calmer. His body has relaxed a little. The tension in his shoulders is no longer so rigid. He’s breathing more easily.

  “So then… what’s the deal with that girl? And how did you end up on this planet?” I ask, intrigued, while glancing at the child.

  Normally, she would hide behind Alex, nervous around a stranger. But she doesn’t.

  She’s standing in front of him, protecting him. As if I were a threat.

  What’s more… she shoots me a look that, without saying a word, makes it perfectly clear she doesn’t like me at all.

  Wait… can I really say she’s “looking” at me if her eyes are closed? Well, her face is pointed straight at me, so I’ll go with it.

  “Well, that’s complicated too,” he says as he lifts the girl and sits her on his lap. “The waves caused by the energy beam inside the Storm dragged me to this planet. After that, I followed stealth protocol: I hid the armor and went out to explore a bit. I found traces… faint, almost imperceptible, that this world had once been inhabited. But no sign of its people. Until one night, while I was on patrol, I heard the sounds of combat. I followed the noise, and through my binoculars I saw a golden armor chasing someone through the forest.” He pauses briefly, thoughtful. His voice drops a little.

  I look at him, narrowing my eyes slightly.

  “The moment I saw that gigantic armor… I froze. You know? Fear overwhelmed me. I started trembling, unable to control it. Memories of what happened to the team hit me like a gunshot: the fight, the screams, the helplessness…”

  I can imagine it.

  “All I could think about was hiding. Can you believe that? After what happened, I should have been burning with a desire for revenge. But no… I was just trembling. I felt like a disgrace to the Lynx squad.” He says this while lifting his gaze to the crimson sky, his expression distant. “Until I heard it. Crying. A sound so deep it pierced me from within. I looked again through the binoculars and saw a small figure… alone. Vulnerable. In need of help. And before I realized it, I was already running away with her in my arms, that monstrous golden armor right on our heels. We ran. We ran with everything we had. But when there was nowhere left to escape and our end was inevitable… it just stopped. Suddenly, it stopped chasing us and shot up into the sky. As if, all of a sudden, something more urgent had called it away.”

  “Something more important than you? What could be more…? Wait. You said that was a few days after the energy beam,” I ask, starting to connect the dots.

  “Yes. A couple of days later, more or less.”

  “Aaaaah… I think that had something to do with me too,” I reply as the explosion of the Scorching Punishment and my first encounter with that bastard come back to mind.

  “Seriously? Then you’re going to have to tell me about that later,” he says, now visibly interested.

  “I’ll even show you the recordings later,” I promise with a smile.

  “I’ll hold you to that. Anyway, I ended up in a miserable state while running through the jungle. Dirty, injured, more or less lost, and with my clothes in tatters,” Alex says, pausing to give the girl a few gentle pats; she looks at him without really understanding what we’re talking about. “But despite everything, the girl in my arms was fine. And I don’t know… I felt like, for a moment, I was worthy again of bearing my team’s emblem on my chest. Like I could look them in the eye again, without shame. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds a bit silly,” he adds, scratching his cheek, a little embarrassed.

  “Silly? Not at all. Some might call it madness—they tell me that all the time—, but never something silly.” I say, giving him a couple of pats on the shoulder. “But leaving that aside…” I add, changing the subject so we don’t get too sentimental. “Why does it seem like she doesn’t like me?” I ask, looking at the girl, who keeps watching me with a stern expression.

  “You’ll have to excuse her. It seems she sensed you when we were arguing, and she thinks you were trying to hurt me,” Alex explains with a shrug.

  “I’ve been wondering for a while… why do you keep saying she “sensed” it? Is she blind?”

  “Yes… and no. I’ve never seen her open her eyes, but it doesn’t seem like she can’t see either. I just don’t understand how she does it. We can barely communicate; we don’t speak the same language. But somehow… she seems able to convey her thoughts in a way I can’t quite grasp. Look,” Alex says, leaning toward the girl’s ear and whispering something to her.

  The little girl lifts her head and, all of a sudden, I feel it. I don’t hear anything. There’s no sound. But the words form clearly inside my mind.

  “doN’t liKe. deMoN. doN’t lIKe. dOn’T liKe. aTtAck aLex. dOn’T liKe.”

  I shudder.

  “…I think she still doesn’t like me,” I comment, looking away.

  “She’ll warm up to you, just give her time,” Alex tells me with a calm smile.

  “Who knows? Although something caught my attention… what does she mean by ‘demon’?”

  Alex turns serious. Very serious.

  “That’s what she calls the golden armors. And…” he pauses, lifting his gaze toward the colossal peak rising on the horizon, from which the crimson storm pours forth. “that mountain, she calls it the ‘Demons’ Lair.”

  ***

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  The landscape sways before my eyes with a gentle, rhythmic rocking. A calm, relaxing back-and-forth. In front of me, Alex shares this peculiar perspective.

  “So, Alex… do you remember what you suggested to me?”

  Alex looks at me for a few seconds, clearly hesitating about whether to answer. In the end, he does, somewhat reluctantly.

  “…‘Let’s go look for Mir’s village’,” he says.

  “What a great idea! And what did I say to that?”

  “‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? They might mistake us for the enemies who took her,’” he replies, repeating my words.

  “A perfectly justified concern. But… what was your response?” I press on.

  He shoots me a look that’s equal parts guilty and annoyed.

  “Come on, Rob, I already apologized,” he protests.

  “Shhhh,” I interrupt him. “What did you answer me?”

  “…‘Surely Mir will be able to explain the situation,’” he says, looking away.

  “Right, that sounds logical. Surely the girl will be able to defend us. So, what was my last doubt?”

  “…‘And don’t you think that a bunch of furious adults won’t have time to listen to a child?’” he replies.

  “An absolutely valid and reasonable question. And what did you say?”

  “…‘We can clear up any misunderstanding. Besides, we’ll go without the frames, this way we avoid confusion,’” he answers, now fully resigned.

  “Of course. Going without the frames. What a brilliant idea. And yet, I let myself be convinced by your optimism—and a bit by the chance to record the discovery of a new civilization—and went along with it. After all, what could possibly go wrong?” I look around.

  A gentle breeze blows, and that rhythmic swaying continues. We’re under a tree. The foliage and the red sky hang beneath my feet. The grass, on the other hand, is above my head.

  “THEN WHY ARE WE HANGING UPSIDE DOWN, TIED TO A TREE?!” I shout as I swing uncontrollably, like a worm caught in a spider’s web.

  I go over the events that led us to this… particular situation.

  After our unexpected reunion, we reached Alex’s improvised shelter: a small nearby cave. Apparently, we’d had similar ideas; hardly surprising, considering we’d received the same training from the Kingdom.

  We spent the night there, sharing rations. It turns out Alex is an excellent cook; it seems his family owned a restaurant. Compared to him, I can barely make a fried egg. Damn it, how can he be so perfect?

  Leaving that aside, I told him everything I’d been through since I entered the Storm. He was extremely surprised when I mentioned that I’d faced a golden armor bearing the Lynx team’s emblem. We concluded it must have been one of his two companions after being transformed, and he thanked me for trying to save him.

  He was also completely incredulous when I told him about the Princess. I get it. Still, he grew very excited at the idea of meeting her. I told him we could probably contact her in a few days. Technically, I could do it right away, but I’d promised not to break radio silence unless it was an emergency.

  Finally, the conversation turned to the inevitable: how we were going to get out of here.

  The mountain struck us both as suspicious. If there is a way out of this Storm, we’ll surely find it there. However, according to Mir, it is also the dwelling of the golden armors… or so the elders of her village say.

  I asked Alex why he hadn’t taken the girl back to her people earlier, but he told me that no matter how much he searched, he hadn’t found a single trace of her village. And whenever he tried to ask Mir about its location, she couldn’t explain it clearly.

  Even so, we managed to understand one thing: if we followed sources of water, we would eventually reach her village… or at least, that’s what we believe she meant. When Alex heard that, he insisted that we had to take her home before doing anything else.

  Naturally, I raised a few objections. But his positivity—and the fact that we couldn’t keep dragging a small child around everywhere—convinced me. So, the next morning, we began following the river’s course.

  We pressed on until midday, when exhaustion from the lack of oxygen overcame us. We decided to rest in a small clearing by the river, surrounded by bushes. Unlike us, Mir didn’t seem tired at all, despite being a child. I assumed her body was already adapted to the planet’s conditions. Even so, it’s humiliating to be outdone by a child who also looks at me with a mocking expression. Clearly, she still doesn’t like me. On the other hand, she adores Alex. She’s always close to him.

  As I bent down to drink some water, I felt that familiar pressure of a sharp blade against my throat. It’s already starting to feel like a habit.

  I slowly straightened up, hands raised, and carefully turned around, just as I was told.

  Many questions raced through my mind: how could someone get so close without me noticing? Are my senses dulling? Have I already grown old?

  And then I saw them.

  At least twenty individuals surrounded us. They wore garments similar to Mir’s, though reinforced with pieces of armor. Over them, they wore greenish, worn cloaks that covered them from head to toe. Their faces were hidden behind gray masks, with no visible openings for the eyes, though I could make out a few silver strands peeking out from their hoods.

  They were everywhere, armed with knives, swords, and—if my eyes didn’t deceive me—even the occasional axe. I also caught sight of arrowheads peeking out from the bushes and high up in the trees. Curiously, none of their weapons emitted the slightest gleam.

  I looked for Alex and found him on the ground, completely immobilized by two other hooded figures. With his eyes, he gestured to the right. I managed to see the tip of Mir’s dress disappearing into the bushes.

  I tried to say something, but before I could make a sound, I felt a blow from behind and lost consciousness.

  When I woke up… well, this is how it was. Hanging upside down from a tree, tied up. Right next to Alex.

  “Rob, I don’t feel well,” Alex says, his face completely red.

  “That’s because we’re hanging upside down. We won’t last much longer if they don’t lower us,” I reply, starting to feel dizzy.

  They took our things, including my recording! I don’t have time to come up with a plan. With few options left, I decide to make some noise.

  “Hey, you morons! We’re going to die here, get us down right now!” I shout as I swing.

  “And tell us where Mir is!” Alex adds, more worried about her than about himself.

  Before I can take a breath to shout again, one of the masked figures approaches with steady steps.

  “Hey, idiot! Get us down! What kind of welcome is this after we saved the girl?” I snap, still hanging there.

  The individual watches us in silence and suddenly pulls out a knife. For a second, I think I really made him angry… but instead of a stabbing, I feel a dull thud against the ground. The ropes have been cut.

  “Ouch! If you were going to cut them, you could at least warn us!” I complain as I pull myself upright, rubbing my side.

  FoLLoW wiTHouT a SoUND.

  That message somehow echoes inside my mind. I look at Alex; from his expression, he received it too.

  I consider making a run for it, but without our gear it would be hard to move around this planet. Besides, something tells me they could catch us again without much effort. For now, it seems they don’t plan to kill us, so I decide to play along. I let Alex know with a glance.

  We walk in silence behind the mysterious figure. The forest quickly starts to feel… strange around us, and it doesn’t take me long to realize that we’re passing through a camp… though it doesn’t resemble any I’ve ever seen before.

  The tents are camouflaged with a mix of branches, leaves, and natural materials that perfectly mimic their surroundings. Some look like bushes, others like twisted trees, and there are even structures that would pass for rocks at a glance. The entire place is designed to vanish into the landscape. There’s no smoke, no visible fire. Nor is there the usual bustle of a settlement.

  The silence is almost absolute, as if everyone were accustomed to making no noise at all.

  Even so, the inhabitants are active. They come and go, carrying out tasks in perfect order. Most of them have their faces uncovered. Just as I suspected: vibrant gray skin, silver hair, and their eyes… closed. Completely closed.

  Men, women, elders, and children move as if they had rehearsed every step. There are no stumbles, no hesitation. Everything is in balance.

  But that harmony shatters the moment they notice us.

  One by one, they all stop. They raise their heads and turn them toward us. I couldn’t say whether they’re “looking” at us, but I feel their attention pressing down on me. Tense murmurs suddenly ripple through them, in a language I don’t understand. Some children shrink back in fear, and their mothers quickly pull them inside the tents, away from our sight.

  We’re drawing attention, that much is clear. Even so, no one stops us or speaks to us.

  How I wish I had my camera, I’m missing the chance to record some incredible things.

  We leave the camp and keep walking.

  “Where is he taking us?” I murmur.

  And then it hits me.

  “Alex, I’m not digging my own grave. If they plan to get rid of me, they can at least work for it.”

  “Rob, don’t be dramatic. And if you don’t dig it, I’ll have to dig it for you,” he replies.

  “Well, this is partly your fault. So at least bury me no less than six feet deep.”

  As I whisper my last wishes, the hooded figure stops and throws us a murderous… look? I don’t know if he understood what we said, but he definitely caught the tone. I feign innocence and look the other way.

  At last, he resumes walking. We move even farther from the camp, far enough that, if we knocked him out, no one would notice…

  As I weigh whether we should try it, a tent appears before us. Just one. Much farther away than the others.

  How strange!

  At first glance, it looks like an old fallen tree, though the oddest part is the circle of rocks surrounding it several meters away. As I examine the curious formation, our guide stops right in front of it, without crossing. He hesitates for a moment… and then steps inside.

  Alex and I exchange a puzzled look, but follow him in.

  Suddenly, a lazy male voice, in a perfect dialect of the Rim, resonates directly inside my head:

  “Who goes there? Ah, it’s you, Cir. I heard you found your sister safe and sound, congratulations. And who’s with you?” The voice suddenly cuts off. When it returns, its tone is far more serious. “Cir… what are those things accompanying you? Why can’t I…? Hm… I see.”

  Our guide—Cir, I assume—stands motionless for a moment at the entrance.

  “So that’s why you brought them. Very well, come in.”