The next handful of days passed in anxious silence, as Nova tended to MC with the tools she had at her disposal—which was to say—not much at all. After having limped him onto Eiga, the pair had flown a mile into the cavern network, taking several branching passages along the way.

Their new surroundings afforded even fewer comforts—in fact, every inch of exposed rock seemed to be coated in a layer of ice, though MC had hollowed out a small room just off of the massive tunnel, separated by a few feet of rock.

As with the one he’d created at Kyron, this room boasted two basic beds, along with a table and bench in the corner, yet at Nova’s request, he made it even smaller than his previous design. Not only would the trapped heat aid in recovery, but it also made her feel far more comfortable, since her reduced mass afforded less thermal protection.

She’d had him lie down most of the time to rest, but their situation was growing dire, and now that she’d fully comprehended his condition, she had uncovered entirely new concerns.

“Magnus, we need to talk.”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” MC replied from atop his hard bed of rock. The Zevan magic orb sat on the nearby table, casting its soft glow across the chamber.

“It is regarding the water you have been drinking…”

“Nova, this isn’t the first time we’ve had this conversation. To be honest, that water’s the only reason I’m even alive. You think I’d drink that stuff if I had a choice?”

“No, I do not believe you understand. The trees within the mutagenic ponds are chemical stabilizers as well as atomic factories. They repair and restore the nanites contained within the water, machines that are programmed to mutate DNA, altering any living organism they come into contact with. Though they contain a basic intelligence, the process is random by design. It is very likely that they have already caused irreparable damage to your body. If left untreated, I fear it may lead to some serious complications.”

“What about all the mutated creatures I’ve seen? They all seem to be doing just fine.”

“Magnus, I would not use those poor creatures as a reference. This entire world is used for experimentation. You really should consider everything to be a test subject unless you know otherwise.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, it’s not like we can do jack shit about that for now. I’ll try to minimize my consumption, but if the choice is mutated or dead, I choose mutated any day. Unless you have a better solution?”

Nova frowned in frustration. “I do not. If we can gain access to a Dyn facility, I may be able to reprogram our medical nanites to undo the damage, though I have no idea how we would come by such an opportunity.”

An awkward silence stretched on for several moments before MC spoke up in an attempt to shift the conversation. “So I’ve been wondering, what’s the deal with that symbol I see everywhere? The one with the three circles on it?”

“The emblem of the Dyn? The Dyn was founded by three original races, represented by each of the three circles. Ubiquity Prime, the overlord in charge of this sector of the galaxy, is from one of those races: The Tyrmalen. The triangle is supposed to represent their unity, though in reality, each Prime has become a faction unto theirselves.”

“I’ve actually been meaning to ask you about that. What kind of an organization are we really up against?”

“Dyn social hierarchy is surprisingly flat given our society's size. The position of Legatus is the lowest rung that has any real autonomy. Their domain generally spans a small part of a harvested world, though in our case, this planet is more of a research outpost. Given that the overall Dyn population here numbers only in the tens of thousands, my people felt that a single Legatus would be sufficient.”

“And this is the same Legatus who tortured you and tried to auction you off, right? The one that's been trying to murder us?”

“Yes… Magnus, I know how much you want to kill him, but we need to keep ourselves safe for now.”

“Actually, I’m more surprised that you’re so calm after what he did to you.”

“I am not calm!” She snapped. “Apologies, that was uncalled for. But please do not mistake my statement for capitulation. I long for the day that the Legatus answers to us and to the people of this planet for his crimes. However, I have thought long and hard about what you said earlier.”

“Which was what, exactly?”

“About prioritizing our own survival. As much as I want to help my family and the Zevan, as two people, our ability to enact meaningful change is severely limited. We have to secure our situation before anything can truly begin.”

“Agreed, though I gotta admit I didn’t think you’d see things that way. Make no mistake, we will get him, and when we do, you have my word that he is going to die the most painful death imaginable.”

“Thank you, Magnus,” she replied with a wry smile. “As I was saying before, Legatus is the lowest position with any autonomy. Their orders are carried out without question, but they report to the Consili above them. The Consili are usually responsible for managing several inhabited worlds. They sit directly beneath the Forum.”

“The head honchos?” He followed up when she didn’t quite understand. “The big, bad guys at the top?”

She smiled, “You could say that. They are the supreme monarchs of the Dyn. There are only nine at any given time, and they are the only ones among the Dyn to have names instead of alphanumeric designators. Some are fair and just, others prioritize expansion and subjugation above all else.”

“And let me guess, our glorious Ubiquity Prime is the latter,” MC said, gingerly shifting his body in search of a more comfortable position.

“Indeed. Ubiquity is the most aggressive of all of the Primes, often making unilateral decisions that interfere with the others’ plans. He has been a continuous thorn in their side. There has yet to be a war amongst the Forum, but if there were, it would surely be instigated by Ubiquity Prime.”

“Magnus, are you listening?” Getting no response, she glanced over to discover that he had drifted off to sleep once again. He had been resting for most of the past few days to recuperate, leaving her with long stretches with nothing to do.

Nova deactivated the light crystal next to him, plunging the cavern into darkness, then retrieved one of the knives that Magnus had given her. Not his fancy nanomachine blade, but rather one of the several he’d pilfered from the Zevan. It was better this way—she’d rather keep his knife safe in case they needed it for any more surgeries. The winged Dyn then stood up and made her way to the room’s door, a simple affair she’d asked Magnus to craft after she’d nearly gone mad staying cooped up in the small room.

Firming her resolve, she opened the door and left. It was time to act.

Both their food and water stores had nearly dwindled dry and it was up to her to procure more. Luckily, water would not be a problem; the snowmelt guaranteed an abundance of small streams and water flows trickling down the porous rock walls.

As for food, she could only count on Eiga. Approaching the great beast, she gazed up at his enormous eyeless snout. “Eiga, will you help me find food and water for Magnus?” She implored, miming bringing food to her mouth.

Eiga gruffed and snapped his neck, sniffing the cold cavern air before gesturing with his neck for Nova to get on. She obliged, and in the next moment, the pair flew through the massive, pitch-black cave, yet to Nova’s multispectral vision and Eiga’s senses, it may as well have been day.

The rocky ceiling must have been at least a hundred feet high, providing ample room for Eiga to maneuver. Nova carefully analyzed their surroundings as they flew, the sound of Eiga’s quad wings echoing within the vast tunnel. As she’d expected, freshwater was everywhere, while food was less so. It took another ten minutes of flight to find what they were looking for.

A herd of mutated six-legged Zarshad bovines napped under a rocky overhang along one side of the tunnel. Spotting them, Eiga activated his magic cannon, bathing the entire area with a brilliant radiance for a fraction of a second. The poor animals died before they even comprehended what had hit them, as Eiga played the beam across the entire herd. A few lucky ones bolted off into the distance, howling in fright, but the majority had succumbed instantaneously.

“Eiga! We needed food, not burned coals!”

Eiga simply huffed and landed near the slaughtered animals. Most had been incinerated to a crisp, but there were a couple that had only been injured. With its legs seared, the six-legged bovine moaned in agony as Nova approached.

She looked back at Eiga, who nudged her with his snout, as if he wanted her to make the kill.

Nova hesitantly glanced at the dying animal, the crude knife quivering in her slender hands. Screwing up her face in determination, she made her resolution. As much as she told Magnus not to kill their kind, she was more than aware of her own weakness in this area. Perhaps, by killing this creature with her own hands, she could take her first step to overcoming that aversion.

She crept up to the downed creature, which gazed at her with pleading eyes. She gripped the knife tightly with both hands, with such strength that her knuckles turned pale white. Yet as she raised the blade to inflict the killing blow, she found herself frozen, unable to move.

I can’t do this!

Tears began to flow down her face. If she couldn’t kill this miserable animal, then what good was she? She had only been a hindrance to Magnus thus far, constantly relying on him for protection. If she couldn’t even fend for herself, wasn’t she simply a liability?

How does he kill so easily?

Every shred of her rational mind told her to kill this animal, to serve it cooked to Magnus. Yet here she was, arms raised, frozen in place.

The animal sensed her hesitation and surged its last bit of strength into its three functional legs to lunge right at her. Nova’s eyes went wide in fright, but Eiga’s massive snout descended from out of nowhere like a wraith from the darkness, enveloping her protectively under his great wings. The Zarshad’s head separated clean off, leaving a neck stump that belched blood in a soaring arc.

Nova froze in shock for a moment before she realized what had happened. Panic turned to despair as she came to terms with her personal failure.

With much difficulty, she dragged the body back to Eiga, who picked it up in his forelimbs, nuzzling her with his massive snout in consolation. She stroked his hard scales with a sad smile, idling for a moment before climbing on his back once more.

On the way back, they stopped at a small stream to stock up on water. Thankfully, Magnus had restored his broken one, leaving her with two fully-filled reinforced water cylinders strapped onto Eiga’s sides. With their hydration issues quenched for a while, the winged pair flew back in silence. Yet as they approached their makeshift camp, Nova realized something was amiss. Eiga had as well, doubling his speed.

Dozens of bipedal creatures—Zevan—were sprinting at unnatural speeds straight for the hideout, emitting high-pitched shrieks that shocked her down to the core. Eiga roared and opened fire with his magic beam, incinerating the vast majority of the assailants, but two managed to get away.

A dragon's bellow roused MC, prompting him to immediately teleport out into the cavern. Leaning against a makeshift crutch, he knew full well that he was in no condition for a melee fight, but with his abilities, he didn't have to be.

A Midar ping deployed. One of the attackers died, its head having disappeared within the blink of an eye. Yet just before he could eliminate the other one, a scream rang through the massive space, Nova's voice, filled with dread.

"MAGNUS!"

The abomination crashed to the ground—dead, and the winged angel stood behind it, clutching a blood-soaked knife, stabbing the dead creature over and over again.

“Uh, Nova? Thanks for the assist, but you can stop now, you know. It’s dead.”

She looked up at him with glazed-over eyes, her face covered in the abomination's blood, before comprehension dawned and she realized just what she had just done. She dropped the knife, backing away several steps.

“I—I’m sorry, I didn’t, I don’t know what came over me. I can't believe I just... and I couldn't kill just now...” Nova stuttered, panic evident in her voice.

MC sat down, leaning against the rocky walls for support.

“Actually, that was pretty damn impressive,” he said with a calm, even keel. “All this time, I didn’t think you could hurt a fly if your life depended on it. You just saved my life.”

MC's strategy worked, prompting a halting 'thank you' out of the shocked alien—she of all people knew that he was in no real danger, but he was happy to see the initiative out of her. Getting blood on an angel’s hands—literally or figuratively—was not something he especially wanted to see, but Nova’s survivability would soar if she could protect herself from mortal threats.

“What the fuck are these things, anyway?” MC asked, primarily to distract Nova from the fact that she'd just killed a living being, lest she have a full-blown panic attack. It didn't help that Eiga was happily chomping on the dead bodies.

“Zevan. Mutated Zevan.”

The dim light cast by the magic orb brought the corpse’s hideous features into gory detail. He didn’t know whether he ought to be happy, or sad, that they looked far more human to him than a normal Zevan. Gone were most of the gelatinous bits, replaced with tanned purplish skin. Blue veins crisscrossed its entire body in random patterns at densities far greater than his own.

“You don’t think they’ve been drinking the same stuff I have, do you?”

Nova shook her head in confusion. “Its symptoms do bear a striking resemblance to the effects of the mutagen, though I find it hard to believe. The Dyn expressly forbid the Zevan from approaching anywhere near those ponds, and the Zevan worship us as Gods. Only the Trilnyth have disobeyed that rule to date.”

“Well, whatever the fuck they are, at least didn’t have those damned magic shields. That makes them a lot easier to kill.”

But then, who knew how many more of them lurked down here, deep within the depths of the labyrinthine cavern?