"W-wage war? I'm trying to avoid it," Rain said.
"You can never totally evade war in this place, little boy."
Rain pouted. Little boy? "My name's Rain, and I'm already seventeen years old."
The woman paused as if she were surprised, then she laughed softly. "Little boy Rain. My name is Eve."
Augh . . . Rain guessed that compared to the inhabitants in here, he was indeed just a boy in their eyes.
"Eve . . . are you from here?" he asked her.
"Let's just say that I live on the west side of the Barren Wasteland."
"Oh." Rain immediately jotted it down on his map. "Are you alone, or are there others in the west?"
"Totally alone. I control all the west side of the Barren Wasteland."
Rain paused. He shivered at the realization.
Isn't she a ruler then?!
So she's very powerful, right?!
"Uh . . . y-youre . . ."
"I don't rule anyone or anything in the west. It's just me and my . . . friends."
"I . . . I see . . ." Rain decided not to question further.
Friends? Rain shifted his eyes left and right but didn't see anyone. However, he felt a presence — an eerie, ominous, powerful presence — that he initially thought was coming from the woman.
But now that she said she was with her friends, Rain felt like there were multiple eyes on him. And that's when he saw it. It took his breath away, and turned him into stone.
On the ground, where the woman's shadow should have been, loomed the silhouettes of four monstrous creatures. Their immense forms sprawled beneath the boulder, casting shadows that stretched like towering skyscrapers, dark and foreboding.
Rain had thought it was merely the shadow of the boulder, but now that he looked more closely, they were too big!
Cold sweat ran down Rain's back. He felt death gripping at his throat and staring at him in the eyes.
"Don't worry. They're harmless," Eve said, licking her lips. "Unless I tell them not to."
W-what kind of encouraging words is that?! Rain was ready to bolt, but he couldn't feel his legs.
Eve frowned and waved her hand, silencing the shadows. "Leave them alone, and don't interfere."
Her lips then quirked at the side. "I want to see what he's going to do next . . ."
=======
The next day, Chin and Chill returned with information for Rain.
"They're searching for something here?" Rain asked them. "But we didn't stumble upon any Ebizos here before."
Chin nodded, and the two chirped in explanation.
"They're only searching the western part of the Barren Wasteland? But why?"
Rain looked over at the west side of the Barren Wasteland. It's Eve's territory.
Could it be that . . .
"Stay here, all of you, and don't tell this to anyone. Go and help around, and tell them that I went to gather materials."
~Chirp!~
"Don't worry. I won't go too far. I'll just check up on something."
Rain then went to the location where he had met Eve that night. He didn't bring anyone because he didn't know how Eve would react to it.
That woman was volatile, and Rain was afraid that her amusement in him would fade, replaced by anger, if he brought anyone along, and she would just kill him on a whim.
Rain still hadn't established whether Eve was a foe or a friend. But right now, he couldn't afford to take any chances of angering her.
Those shadows that night still gave him nightmares, and Eve might appear weak, but he could feel how powerful she was if she could command those gigantic, scary creatures.
Rain walked hurriedly to the location where he had met Eve before. Then his stride turned into a jog until he found himself running and gasping for air, calling her name when he was a good distance away from his territory.
"Eve!"
"Eve! I have something to . . ." Rain's voice died down when he stumbled upon Ebizo soldiers! Five of them!
Oh shit!
He forgot that a lot of them were searching for something in this area, and it was too late to escape.
They had spotted him!