The ground is worse in the mountains than down in the wasteland. It's rough and broken, jagged after being drained of all life. The pull of whatever sucked out the energy was much stronger than anything else you've seen. The air is thin and a thick mist hangs around you. It doesn't help that you have to walk through an extremely narrow passageway between two large cliff faces. Dim walks slowly in front of you, making sure to head down the right path as the walkway twists and turns.

You'd spent you first day away from the village traveling in the direction on the mountains. As you both walked, you only managed to catch glimpses of the massive Lurker crawling through the peaks. Each time you did, it looked bigger and more grotesque. You had the strange feeling that it was watching you. After a quick camp beneath an old rotting tree and small bout with a random Bone Lurker that ended with it running away, it was time to enter the mountain.

Dim grips your hand as you make your way deeper into the wide mountains. The feeling of her slightly warm skin on yours makes the trip a little bit easier. Low rumbling noises echo around you, making her pull you in a little closer.

"Was that the Mountain Lurker?" you ask.

"Yes... I don't know where it came from though..."

You sigh, wishing it was a little easier to see. The fog around you feels toxic. If you were normal, you might find it hard to breathe. Dim seems accustomed to it. A split in the path forms up ahead. Peering down at the map as you hold it out for her to see, you take the left path.

"How old are these maps?"

"I'm not sure. Some are copies of one from a long time ago, but since there's no one in charge of anything, they've never been updated."

"So I guess there's no telling how accurate they are. I hope we won't be traveling in circles."

The ground shakes again. Pebbles by your feet tremble. The most seems thicker than it was before. Dim stops up at another intersection, looking to see where the map leads. You don't feel that well, like something is pulling on your energy. Everything feels stretched. The fog grows thicker with each passing second. Suddenly you feel it. A blackness staring into your soul. You drop the map.

"(Y/N)? What-"

You don't give Dim a chance to finish. Raising your hands, you push power into the palms, making them shimmer with light. In one swift motion, you clap, sending a shockwave across the peaks. It blows the mist away, allowing you to see clearly around you. And above you.

A dark shadow is cast over your head, engulfing your body like night. You spin around and stare up. Above you sits the massive monster, clinging to the large boulders as it stares down into you. From back in the wasteland, you could only see the eyes at the front of its body where the were the largest. It entire long figure is covered in eyes, blinking and looking around in several different directions at once. It lowers itself towards you menacingly.

"Dim, get out of here! I'll hold it off and catch up!"

"Be careful!"

She turns and starts to run down the path with the map in her hands. You turn your attention back to the beast just in time to see a giant four fingered hand come at you. It grabs you like a rag doll, lifting you high into the air towards it sick body.

You can see something pouring out from it like steam. The thick fog rolls out from its back, pooling on the ground below. You wonder why you didn't sense it when it was near before hand. You realize that it was too big. You didn't sense it because there was nothing else you could feel. It was taking up your entire mind and you had no idea.

It tightens it's grip on you. Yelling you, you focus your energy into the space between its fingers. You widen the nothingness, forcing it to let go and breaking a few bones in the process. You drop to the ground and quickly look for a better vantage point. It won't be a fair fight if your stuck in the small chasm. Summoning your strength, you leap out of the hole and up to the top of one of the smaller peaks. From there you can see all around you. The Mountain Lurker's body is much longer than you thought. It extends far back into the developing cloud of smog. It's front end turns back towards you. You don't see a mouth at the moment, but you're certain that it has one, and that it wants to put you in.

Fire burns through you, moving up into your head and collecting in your eyes. They glow brightly with red energy as you stare at its right side. You let out a loud cry as energy explodes from your vision, burning up the air and striking the monster head on. It's large size makes it an easy target. You can hear the sound of burning flesh as your vision cools and the energy dispels.

Nothing. It does nothing. The skin of the monster has been burnt black but it was left unfazed by an attack that could easily reduce a Dirt Lurker to dust. It stumbles its way towards you, reaching out with its clawed fingers. You rush to the side, narrowly avoiding its grasp as you look for s new angle. Your energy blasts have no affect on it. Even the small eyes sitting it are undamaged. You move as far away as you can before turning back to face it. The Mountain Lurker is coming for you, closing in at a rather slow but heaving pace.

The fire returns as you send it into your hands. You reach out and grab at the space around the monster, bringing it in on itself. It hardens and crushes down on the Mountain Lurker, squeezing it. It stops moving but doesn't seem to be in any pain you change the focus point, shifting to one of its arms. The space surrounding it collapses, crushing it into a grey bloody noodle. It cries out and staggers back slightly before recovering. With dozens of other limbs, one won't make much of a difference.

You can focus on the limbs, immobilizing it. However, you can't tell how many arms it has. It could be a while before you're able to cripple it, and you're not sure how long you'll be able to last. Your energy might not be able to hold out for very long. The Mountain Lurker shakes and charges, rushing forward and crashing into the rocks in front of you, sending a small wave of stone towards you. It's easily deflected with a wave of your hands, but it's followed up by a body slam from the beast.

A shield of space forms above you as try to hold it back. The weight of it is more than you expect. You can feel heat radiating off of it, making you sweat through your shirt. You haven't felt this tired. The smoke coming off of it fills your lungs, burning slightly. It's too much. You can't beat it. You have to retreat.

Looking over, you can see the path Dim had taken away from it. You need to find her and make sure she's okay before you make a new plan. You blink for a moment, and you're not beneath the creature. You're standing on the rocks just behind it, stumbling down into the chasm as if searches around, confused as to where you went. Quickly you move along the path, searching around for Dim. After spending so much time with her, you can easily feel where she is. You round a corner and dive into a small cave. She's there sitting amongst the rocks. She sees you come in and goes up to meet you.

"(Y/N), what happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm alright... just tired... I couldn't beat it..."

"What? You couldn't?"

"No... it's definitely not like the others... It's slow, but strong... stronger than me..."

"So what do we do?" she asks, pulling you close. "If you can't stop it..."

You sigh, sitting back. Lifting your left arm, you look at the four tattoos on your wrist. They look faded slightly. It's been a while since you've gotten them. You're not sure what they mean or how they relate to your powers, but you know you need more. There has to be more. Otherwise you won't be able to avoid a long drawn-out fight that you might not win. You need something new. Closing your eyes, you force yourself to concentrate. You know there's more to find. You just have to focus.

You let your arm fall to your side. It lands on a small boulder next to you. There's a small spark between your fingers and it's surface. Dim looks over at you and noticed something off. A strange glowing shape grows on your arm and another around the rock.

"Uh... (Y/N)?... Look..."

You glance up, looking to where she's pointing. There's a slight tingling on your arm. A fifth black ring forms around your wrist, finishing off the set. They glow with power, feeding into the stone. It starts to shake. You stand up quickly, going to stand beside Dim as the rock changes. It shifts on the ground. The other smaller pebbles cluster around it. It suddenly lifts into the air, hovering a few inches off the ground with green and blue energy. It crackles with power, moving around. You can feel it. Feel what it is now.

"It's alive."