Angel Monarch

Sera was walking through the big and scary forest. Even though she could see in the dark it didn't make the situation less terrifying.

'Walking in a monster infested forest, at night, alone. What could go wrong? I'm just on a nightly stroll.'

It did not help her state of mind that every now and then a roar could be heard, but those weren't the frightening ones. Some of them stopped abruptly, now that ones scared the crap out of her.

'They just probably suddenly lost interest in screaming. They definitely weren't killed by bigger, and worse monsters, nope not a chance.'

While walking she constantly scanned the surrounding woods for any signs of danger. But the trees were so densely packed that seeing further than 10 meters was basically impossible.

'Let's just try to ignore the scary sounds and instead start to think of what route to take. The first goal is to reach the El-Ba River, after that I only have to follow it to Castleburg. Maybe I can even take a bath in the river and clean all this dirt off.'

Sera brought up the map of the area on her Watch.

'Hmm...This map seems to be from before the apocalypse, not the most accurate but better than nothing.'

Studying the map she tried to find the town she left, but it was missing on the map, but the road wasn't.

'50 km to the El-Ba. I can make it in a few days with this speed, if flying would be an option I would be there by dawn, but life wasn't perfect.'

She could still hear the beating of wings every now and then. And saw moving shadows above her.

'It must be their hunting ground or something. Anyway, so if I move on this road for a couple more kilometers I reach a crossroad, then I turn right and at the next one left, follow that until I reach a place called Havel which is on the shore of the El-Ba. Seems easy enough.'

Now that the route was planned Sera started to get bored. In half an hour she reached the crossroad and went right, just as planned.

Her mind began to wander and tried to find answers to the many questions she had.

'So our society was made of two levels, lower and upper. But why make the distinction? We are both humans, it feels like the Evolved think themselves as better, than regular humans. Weirdos. And all the secrets they keep: the upper Classes and Ranks, the Watch's storage capability and who knows what else.'

After thinking a bit she was reminded of a question she asked her parents as a child.

'"Mom where do these Watches come from, everyone has one so who's making them?" Mother just smiled at me and said "Don't worry about it. Every citizen gets one. The Evolved give it to us and we accept it as a gift." And that was that.'

'Don't worry about it... Give as a gift at birth... What a load of bullshit. They are probably tracking devices or something. Can't be just some gift, it's way too valuable for that especially after Evolution. There has to be something more they don't tell us.'

While thinking of this, she reached another crossroad and went right, just as planned.

'So the Watches are what? Some weird a.i. the Evolved made to keep tabs on everyone? But that doesn't explain the storage, where do the items go when dismissed.'

Just to prove her point she summoned her glaive and dismissed it.

'So it's not just a piece of hardware, it's something way more and mysterious. I could try asking it where it come from.'

"Hey Watch where did you come from, who made you?"

"Sorry Angel Monarch! The information of how or who made me is not available since I wasn't there. If you are interested in the origin and development of the Evolved Watches you should try the closest Main Terminal! The route to the closest city is: wake up, then start walk out of..."

"Yeah-yeah I know the route."

'I guess I just have to reach Castleburg in order to find answers to these questions.'

She reached another crossroad and went right, just as planned. But after walking for a couple seconds she noticed something amiss.

'I have went right at 3 separate crossroads, isn't that a square? Did I go in a circle accidentally?'

She started jogging and reached another crossroad. Stopping at the middle of it she began to understand where the bad feeling came from.

'They are the same! All 4 of them!'

Indeed each road looked exactly the same. While turning around she even forgot, which one she had arrived from.

'I ain't walking down on any of them. Not when I can fly.'

Preparing for take off the sound of beating wings could be heard in the sky.

'They're still patrolling the sky I see.'

But looking down the roads she noticed something. At some point every sound in the forest ceased, which was impossible.

'So something is wrong with this space and every time I think of flying off, something stops me. Interesting.'

While Sera was trying to work out a way to escape the situation, she remembered what her Watch said about the route to take.

"Watch how do I get to Castleburg?"

"Angel Monarch! Before suggesting a route to take you should wake up."

"But I am awake!"

"Most certainly not! You are under the dreamspell of a Corrupted 3rd Tier monster, named Dream Weaver! Before heading to Castleburg waking up is necessary!"

'Corrupted of the 3rd Tier? Dreamspell?? WHAT??? Okay take a deep breath. You can get out of this situation, just like the other ones.'

"Watch how do I wake up?"

"Angel Monarch! You should try to leave the threshold of the dream! And you should hurry up, in about 5 minutes and 11 seconds, your body will began to dissolve in the creatures digestive fluids!"

"Well, thanks I guess."

"Your welcome!" Said the Watch with a hint of mischief.

'This fucking Watch. I will break it one day. So I have to leave and fast, but where is the threshold of the dream?'

She thought about it for a couple of seconds then looked up and laughed.

'Of course, those are the gatekeepers for the exit. Wanting to stop me from leaving. Well, lets see if you are capable enough.'

Sera held out her hand where a bloody glaive appeared, bent her legs a bit and took flight to fight her way out of this dream.