2d.) The Desert

Tesla tensed slightly, at first expecting another attack. The crackling noise of the electric shield was the only thing that could be heard for a moment.

"We are here to fight the darkness," Tesla finally answered, after a quick glance back told her that Erik had no response. It was obviously a sufficient answer, if the snake knew what it meant.

"Ah... a knight for justice, are you..." the serpent hissed, apparently amused by this. "Very well... I shall grant you passage here, one with a death wish... be warned, though... darkness may be closer than you think..."

With that, the snake loosened his 'grip' on the area, 'standing' taller for a moment. "Stay in the quarry til next day, lest you want to freeze to death... next morning, try moving towards sunrise... I hear there's an in-tact desert village still there... if you want to find where the darkness will go, that will be the place..."

With that, the snake dove down, its body following track for about three minutes, until the tail finally appeared, and followed through the hole created by the head, which soon collapsed.

Tesla stayed still until the snake went under and its data signature went faint. With a long sigh, she let the field of electricity dissipate, not bothering to reabsorb its energy. She headed off for the quarry, all thoughts of her tamer gone for the moment.

A few minutes later, Erik and Tesla were seated back to back, Erik facing the wounded tamer. He rummaged through his backpack for a moment, then retrieved a nicely wrapped cold sandwich, which he handed to him.

"Sorry it's not...warm...although there's not much I can do about that," Erik mumbled.

"Don't worry," the boy said, taking the sandwich gratefully. "Its nice to just have any food at all, here...its so easy to get stranded, with all of this random destruction around..."

Adjusting his seat, sitting up more straight, he looked over at Erik. "Still... I have little idea as to where to go from here... this is somewhat an unfamiliar area to me..."

"We were told by a wild DaCre that there will be a village in the direction of the sunrise," Erik said, waving a hand in the air to dismiss the topic.

"However..." Erik seemed to grow in confidence, seeing that he had been thrust into a leadership position. "I know you may not want to talk about it right now, but I have to know: how were you injured? I want to be on my guard against things like this happening again." Erik was speaking into the ground when he finished, unsure how the boy would react.

"It's quite alright," the boy responded, seeing Erik's waning of expression as he spoke of the sensitive topic. "It's only natural that you want to know... but, the variety of DaCre blows all natural limits... telling you how I was wounded by a DaCre that no longer exists seems... well, unhelpful..."

He sighed, then proceeded: "I let my guard down, as it seemed we had the advantage... as my spirit waned, Taeko ranked down, and was easily overcome... it was only in a blast of adrenaline that I was able to find the strength to defeat it, though to get close, I sufferred this wound..."

He remained silent, then said something as an addendum: "I never gave you my name... it's Alan..."

"Erik," Erik responded. He sighed, drawing swirling patterns in a bit of sand near his foot. Again, he had more than a few misgivings about what was happening around him.

"You seem to know a lot about DaCre," Erik said slowly, switching the topic. He hadn't even fully appreciated how closely he was linked with Tesla until a few moments ago.

"Its merely a matter of experience..." Alan responded. "Truthfully, I've been lost on this side for what seems like ages... see, time here spans about sixty times faster than in the human world... even if I arrived only a week before you, I would appear as a sage of knowledge..."

Looking outside, he saw how dark it had become. He shuffled slightly deeper into the cave, to get out of a light breeze. "We should rest as well as we can for the night... travelling will be impossible til sunrise..."

"Sixty times..." Erik repeated under his breath. He imagined returning to his world, older than his own parents. The thought confused him.

Seeing a clear end to the conversation, Erik nodded, curling up next to Tesla. She raised an eyebrow as he lay his head on his pack and closed his eyes, noting that he hadn't eaten anything himself.

"I'll...Stand guard," Tesla began, but Erik had already fallen asleep.

The night passed throughout all the areas; despite different accomadations and levels of comfort, it seemed all would get through the night in a surviving fashion.