Tyler stood there, looking off to where the large spider had just disappeared, carrying her injured son. He absent-mindedly rubbed at the wound on his arm where the young spider had pierced him. What had he almost done? Was he this person — someone who could just attack, kill a creature without cause?

  Sure, it seemed like the system promoted fighting, slaying others to progress. He’d definitely got caught up in that. Then again, every time he’d fought before it had been in self-defence. Even when he’d killed Rafe, he hadn’t been rocked by the realisation as he would have expected. Rafe had attacked first. He had killed. Defending yourself and, albeit ultimately killing the other, seemed rational to him. Well, if it didn’t, he wouldn’t be thinking these thoughts right now.

  “Are you going to explain, or just stand there all day? What just happened? Why didn’t you finish that monster off?” Seshka asked. She was starting to get animated, as if Tyler’s reverie was bothering her.

  A wave of shame washed over Tyler like a cold shower turning on — and the shock of it turned to anger. “How dare you!” Tyler shouted at Seshka. “I am not and never will be that person.”

  Seshka took a step back from Tyler, her spear raising slightly in her hands.

  “I don’t understand,” she said, her voice a little shaky, speaking more to herself than to Tyler.

  Tyler let out a long breath and rubbed his palm across his face. This wasn’t Seshka’s fault, really. No one could force him to do anything. She’d just presented an option.

  “Sorry for snapping. It’s just… it’s… well, that was just a child.” Tyler replied, the vision of the young spider, its legs curling up in a death pose, reminding him of what he’d nearly done. “That spider I attacked was only a kid. What had it done to us? To me? It was just making patterns with its webbing, and I launched out of nowhere, attacked it, tried to kill it.”

  Seshka tilted her head, looking deep into Tyler’s eyes. She never said anything, but gave him time and space, waiting for him to continue.

  “I am not that person. I will not kill a child. Just because I am ignorant, just because I don’t like the look of something, does not give me the right over their life. I don’t care if this is what the so-called omniscient system wants from me. I don’t care if this is the norm in this place. I refuse to kill a child just for a few points. I refuse to kill anything that does not threaten me, or those I care about.”

  “What do you mean, a child? You were talking to them, weren’t you? How can you do that?”

  Tyler returned Seshka’s gaze. He’d been staring off into the trees, not wanting to meet her eyes as he made his declaration, but she’d said something that caught his attention.

  “Yes, I spoke to the mother. Did you not hear her? She offered her own life to save her son’s. That alone shows love. Compassion. They may have been spiders, but they were not mindless creatures.”

  “All I heard was clicks and hisses coming from the large spider. I did understand you, as you talked back to it… her?”

  “Then I’m not sure how I did understand, but I could. She begged for her son’s life with her own. I did that. Imagine if the tables were reversed — if someone you loved were beaten and killed just because they didn’t like the look of them, or were scared because they just didn’t know.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “I’d be…” Seshka never finished the sentence. Instead, she looked away, unsure what to say.

  “Exactly. You’d be devastated and do all you could to stop them. I am not that person. I will not be that person.”

  They both stood there for a while, no one talking any longer, until Tyler nodded at Seshka and slowly started to walk onwards. Seshka followed, keeping a little distance between them.

  Tyler wasn’t sure if it was to give him space, if Seshka thought he was weaker in some way, or if she just needed the space herself. He decided not to comment and continued walking. The sun was shining through the gaps in the trees, and, after a while, he started to feel a little better, a little more like his old self.

  “I like it, I like it. You did the right thing. That little cutie wasn’t that bad. Plus, he made very interesting patterns, very symmetrical,” Al said in Tyler’s head, sounding more coherent than ever.

  “Yeah, thanks. But I should never have been in that situation in the first place. I can make excuses about all the things that have happened over the last few days, but they’re just excuses.”

  “If you’re not going to beat the little spider up, you shouldn’t beat yourself up either. Sometimes the result is all that counts. Also, though, how you get there and also your reasons and….” Al drifted off, seeming to get confused by his own ideas.

  That made Tyler smile to himself. Not everything had to be so serious.

  Seshka came running up beside Tyler at that moment and gently grabbed his arm to stop his advance. He looked at her, shocked for a moment, but she had her finger on her lips, indicating for him to be quiet. He did as she instructed and waited as she looked about.

  After a few minutes, she released Tyler’s arm and spoke quietly.

  “Something is not quite right. Can you feel it? Something is missing.”

  Tyler looked around himself. Everything seemed the same — trees everywhere, grass, wildflowers. The sun was still shining on the small dirt track they travelled. He couldn’t see anything. He listened too, but he couldn’t hear anything.

  That was it. He couldn’t hear anything.

  There were always little noises — something small moving in the grass, birds flying overhead. The noise of a forest, of life moving about inside it. But now, when he listened, he couldn’t hear that. It was like everything had stopped when he did.

  “There’s no sound. It’s like all the wildlife has gone.”

  “Exactly. I would guess we are approaching something, or some place, where the animals keep clear of. We should take precautions.”

  Seshka paused for a second as she pulled her spear from her back and looked at Tyler.

  “Not that we are going to just go kill whatever it is, I mean. Just be prepared in case it attacks us.”

  Tyler smiled, feeling Seshka’s discomfort. “It’s okay, I know what you mean. And again, sorry about earlier. It was more me. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself.”

  Seshka nodded, and stepped in front of Tyler with her spear and buckler in hand. “Let’s move on slowly then. Keep to my back and watch behind me. We don’t want to let something flank us.”

  Tyler did as instructed but still kept glancing forward. He couldn’t help it. He wanted to know if something was out there — something so dangerous the animals were scared to go anywhere near it.

  After a few hundred metres, the sound returned to the forest, but not of animals foraging about. This was more mechanical, like metal on wood and there were faint voices as well. Seshka slowed her pace and crouched slightly, trying to keep close to the trees for cover.

  She parted the long grass ahead of her and peered through. She froze for a long moment, making Tyler move up beside her and look out ahead as well.

  Before them stood a small town of about thirty small buildings, haphazardly surrounding a larger building in the middle. All the structures were made of wood, and there was a small wooden fence surrounding it all, made from sharpened tree branches.

  To the east was a large gate in the wall, with several people entering and leaving. Smoke was starting to rise from one of the houses — not from a fire, but as if someone was cooking and steam was wafting into the air.

  “I thought this was the Intertwining Path event, and that it is normally carried out on your own. Why the hell is there a village here with all these people?”

  “I… I don’t know,” Seshka replied, still not moving. “It shouldn't be like this. I have never heard anyone encountering a town before