The "beaten path" was a bit of a misnomer, mostly because it looked more barely traveled than beaten. There was a two-carts-wide path that weaved in and around the giant, plant-life-infused hoodoos.

Yet, every few hundred yards, another similar "beaten path" would fork off into the stone column forest and be lost to sight within a turn or two. In other instances, a not-so well beaten path would merge back with the trail that the two were walking on.

Cici, on the way down to the valley floor, had explained that there was originally one path through but after time, the more intelligent creatures had started to set up ambushes along the way. This forced the lightly armored parties to find a way around the danger, thus creating multiple paths.

"For as long as history could be told, Escher Pass was the only way through to the southern lands," Cici had said. "Steep hills to the south, mountains to the east, swamp and dense forest to the west and northwest. The raging waters of the Dinoson could get you there quick enough, but that's even more of a danger than the Pass itself."

Kopuis got the long version of the story, but his takeaways were short and simple enough. At some point in time another route was carved out and around the hills and mountains from the south and east. After that, Escher Pass became a choice.

The beaten path through Escher was less tread upon and the way through became less clear. Many of the tangent paths led to corpses and/or skeletons—travelers who were either ill-equipped for the danger or under-rationed for the journey.

Two of the more notable items: There were no trees in Escher Pass, so they would have to bring their own wood for fire. Secondly, the place was without any viable or usable sources of water. They would come across ponds and a river, but the water would be undrinkable, "poisonous," Cici had spat. They would need to keep an eye on their rations even with just a four-day trip.

***

"To the left!" Cici shouted for the fourth time in the last hour.

Kopius, still mentally recovering from their third encounter, turned and located the oncoming threat. Facing the monster, he raised an outstretched hand holding a lit torch; a warning to the beast

He rallied the strength of every school crossing guard who had ever volunteered to stand bravely against the oncoming storm of teenage drivers. The storm in this case was a medium-sized skinwalker bear; its skull and legs the only part of without an exposed skeleton. The monster did not waver or slow at the sight of the flame, much to Kopius's audible dismay.

"I thought you said they don't like fire," Kopius yelled nervously.

The beast glided over rocks and through bushes, two hollow eyes locked on Kopius. The lit flame seemed to be more of a beacon to the beast rather than a deterrent.

"Nah. I said they are fast but lack agility," Cici replied as though they were out bird watching.

"You know," Kopius shouted, "just because they keep coming from the left doesn't mean you can't join in!"

By the time Kopius had finished complaining, the beast had closed the distance and lunged. Throwing courage out the window, Kopius ducked, rolled to the side, singed his shirt with the lit torch, and got to his feet.

As he turned, the beast plowed into the stone pillar only a few feet behind him. In the few moments the monster needed to find its bearing, Kopius was on top of it. He stomped and then stabbed at the skinwalker with the torch, yelling "Sparta!"

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Whoosh.

The skinwalker went up in a large plume of dust. Kopius backed away from the cloud of debris and gathered his breath. For the first time in a while, an empty, translucent window with a glittering border popped into his field of vision.

Too exhausted to be startled, he mentally closed the window. Another identical window popped up, which gave him a slight pause. He closed the window again, and a third empty window popped into view.

"What the hell," Kopius murmured under his breath.

Upon closing the third window, his ears heard a sound he wished to hear more often: Ding-dang

It was followed by a flashing indicator in his peripheral vision. He opened his profile page and smirked at the number 4 next to his name.

Five times he had stomped out a skinwalker, and each came with its own rush of adrenaline. He felt jittery, like he had drank a gallon of gas station coffee. He felt exhausted, drained of resources, and in need of a rest. The two emotions called to him, one convincing him he could sprint a mile while the other wanted to lure him into a nap.

"Nicely done," Cici said as he came into view and inspected the leftover pile of skinwalker dust. "And you didn't get it all over you this time!"

Kopius looked over his person and was grateful for the small win. The first four he had faced had left him inside the plume of dust, causing him to nearly cough to death. Three had gone like the first one had: the beast lunged, Kopius caught it in mid-flight, the dust particle followed the laws of physics and consumed him in its path.

The skinwalker before this one had not lunged in a high, arcing fashion like the first three had. It, a beast that looked like an oversized iguana, had sprung forward in more of a straight line, latching itself to the top part of his left leg and boot. Though the leather—or whatever material the boot consisted of—blunted much of the attack, several sharp fangs had broken through.

"Goddamnsumbitch!" Kopius had yelled before dropping to the ground.

He had pulled at the creature, smashed it on the head using his sword, nearby rocks, and just about anything he could get his hands on. Meanwhile the monster pierced further into his leg and whipped about as though it was a large crocodile trying to death roll him. Finally, he kicked at the creature with his other foot.

"Sparta, Sparta, Sparta!" Kopius had yelled in quick succession, each accompanied by a kick at the monster. The two rolled on the ground, Kopius blurting out inaudible words and the skinwalker firmly entwining itself with his lower leg. Somehow Kopius got to his feet and continued to kick the monster with his heel.

"Sparta, you little bastard!" Kopius had screamed, managing to complete a sentence for the first time in the battle.

He had looked like a man trying his best to click his heels in mid-air but failing miserably. He jumped, screamed, and kicked in varying degrees of order and intensity until falling back to the ground. With his legs up in the air, he gave the creature one more kick, and it whooshed. The debris fell directly onto Kopius, leaving him covered in skinwalker death dust.

Afterwards, Kopius had opted to take some healing herbs from Cici rather than induce the ring or another healing potion. The herbs did a good job; they just worked slower than the other two. The bites were a small annoyance by the time this fifth skinwalker had shown up.

Kopius came back to the present when Cici showed him the twelve pieces of grafeen he had pulled from the dusty remains.

"Now you have thirteen," Cici said with a big smile.

"How many do you normally get going through here?"

"I'd say anywhere between thirty to fifty pieces, depending on my luck."

"So, we've been unlucky thus far?"

Cici made a noncommittal shrug that Kopius took as a "yes."

"What will sithirteen pieces get me?"

"A bed or a hot meal for a night. Get your weapons sharpened or lightly repaired. Things like that."

"Sounds good. Where are we stopping for the night?" Kopius asked, hopeful that the answer was either "now" or "soon".

Cici looked through the pillars and up at the fading light of the sun.

"Shortly, it shouldn't be too far now."

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