Chapter 6 : The Territory of Argemira

On the other side of the door, a gallery stretched straight in front of us, dug into the rock. The vault was high enough that we could walk without bending over, but the walls were tightening to the point where Aria and I were almost side by side. When I come back, the black mist of the passage is reflected behind us. It formed only a compact mass against the stone. It was now impossible to distinguish the place by which we had entered.

Aria took out one of the torches Bobby had prepared. The dried mushroom attached to the wood ignited on contact with the pine cone she kept in her pocket, then the flame spread slowly and steadily. Its orange light revealed mineral-veined walls. Yellow and red veins crisscrossed the rock, accompanied here and there by small quartz-like inclusions that caught the glow and reflected it in brief reflections.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Stay on your guard."

"I'm on my guard. I can find it beautiful at the same time. »

She answered without being angry, as if one thing was obvious in itself. She raises the flashlight slightly as we continue on our way. The further we advanced, the more the walls parted, until the gallery took on the appearance of a real abandoned mine. The rails disappeared under a thick layer of dust, interrupted here and there by blocks that had fallen from the vault. The wooden windows, blackened by time, were sometimes so bent that you wanted to speed up your pace.

In Mistmushroom, even the silence had hidden life: insects in the moss, spores blown by the wind, the wind between the branches. Here, nothing moved. No draught descended into the galleries and no animals scratched behind the rock. Only our steps remain, the echo of which would follow us far too far for me to forget that we had no idea what could hear us.

"How long do you think we're going to have to walk?" asked Aria.

"No idea. The map shows Argemira, but it doesn't show anything inside. »

"Take it. At least you'll understand a little bit of your uselessness," she said, handing me her flashlight.

"At your orders, Mrs. Aria."

We had been walking for about ten minutes when I thought I saw a movement at the back of the gallery. I raised my flashlight. Its halo slid over the railings and supports, revealing only a corridor that seemed endless.

"Casimir?"

"I thought I saw something."

My voice was too low, almost a breath. I didn't dare to give up.

"What did you see?" she asked, peering into the shadow over my shoulder.

"I don't know. Maybe nothing. »

We left, but I kept the flashlight at face level. The impression was not felt. It has not dissipated either. Every crack in the stone, every hollow, held my attention a little too long.

After an hour, we found the first signs of a recent presence. A rudimentary camp occupies the side of the gallery. A circle of stones surrounded the ashes with a fire, while a half-open sack leaned against the wall, near dried provisions and a rolled blanket. A metal cup lay in the dust, overturned less than a meter from the fire.

"Someone has been here," Aria observes.

"And they didn't leave with their belongings."

I crouched down in front of the fire and brought my hand to the ashes. A faint heat persisted beneath their gray surface.

"It's still hot."

"You mean that..." Aria whispered, motionless over the bag.

"This camp was abandoned a few hours ago at most," I interrupted. "The people who were here could still be around."

She was looking beyond the circle of light. The gallery had not changed, but the presence of this encampment made every corner difficult to ignore. Some provisions had been opened and the cover had not even been deployed. No one abandoned their belongings like this and planned to come back late.

"Each one covers us from an angle," she decided.

"Good idea."

We got back on track, more slowly. Aria detached her bow from her shoulder and notched an arrow without stretching the string. I drew my dagger and held it low, far enough away from my leg to avoid blessing myself at the slightest misstep. The corridor was still widening. Rusty tanks appeared in the nooks and crannies and tools littered the ground, abandoned as if their owners had not planned to return until the next day.

A breath suddenly crosses the gallery.

It was a weak and irregular breathing. It was not that of someone who is sleeping, but that of someone who is struggling to get air into his lungs.

"Did you hear that?" she whispers.

"Yes."

"Where does it come from?"

"In front of me... I think," I replied, straining my ears. The sound bounced off the rock, changing direction with each echo.

We moved forward without a word. Aria held her arrow against the rope, ready to shoot. I kept my dagger in front of me, not knowing how effective such a short blade would really be in such a place. About thirty meters further on, the gallery turned sharply to the left. The landslide was waiting for us just after the bend.

Blocks of stone and broken beams blocked the passage to the vault. The dust, suspended in the air, obscured the light of the torches. In several places, the rock bore paler marks, remnants of recently torn debris. A beam, split in two as if under the effect of an impact, emerged from the pile of stones at an abnormal angle. Everything indicated that the collapse was recent.

I looked for an opening between the blocks. The heaviest stones were jammed against each other across the entire width of the gallery. Without tools, it would be impossible for us to move them, and the slightest mistake could cause another landslide.

"He! Is there anyone? hissed a voice muffled behind the declines.

Aria immediately took a step toward the landslide, but I grabbed her arm before she could get any closer.

"Wait."

"What?"

"We don't know what caused this."

"It's a man's voice, Casimir. He's stuck underneath it. »

"I know. But if someone has had this gallery demolished intentionally, rushing to precisely where they are waiting for us would be a bad idea. »

She understood what I feared, even if her impatience did not disappear completely.

"You told me you blamed yourself for failing to protect me last time, didn't you? This is an opportunity to catch up, big boy. »

"Very good. But slowly. »

Behind the stone wall, the rattle resumed, even weaker, as if every word now required an effort.

"Please... get us out of here... »

"How many of you are downstairs?" cried Aria, turning away from me to bring her face close to a gap in the declines.

Several seconds passed before the answer reached us.

"Three. But the other two do not move. »

She was waiting for my opinion. I nodded. If it was a trap, it was far too risky for those who discover themselves under the stones.

"When you arrive!" shouts Aria in the direction of the hole.

"Gently," I growled, holding her by the shoulder. "No rush."

"Very good. But we won't let them die in there. »

"I never said otherwise."

Aria pulled the strap of her bow over her shoulder as I sheathed my dagger to have my hands free. We then proceeded to clear the declines, while watching the gallery behind us. If the collapse had been intentional, the person responsible could still be close enough to see us turn our backs on him. Aria removed the stones with her bare hands at a speed that soon forced me to keep up with her. Some rolled under our boots, while others didn't move until we lifted them together. The dust clung to our forearms and irritated my throat. With each crack in the vault, we stopped to check that it still held.

We pushed aside the lightest blocks and pieces of beam until we created a passage wide enough for a person to slip through. Three faces appeared between the rocks, pale under the dust and marked with scratches. The boy closest to us was still conscious. He raised his head to us with difficulty.

"Thank you... really. My two friends are there. They no longer respond. »

I stay for a moment looking at him. An impression crossed me: that of having already met this face somewhere. However, no precise memory came to the surface. No place, no name, no image to associate it with; only this strange impression, too vivid to be ignored and too vague to enlighten me.

I cleared a few more stones. The boy crawled slowly out of the passageway, each movement accompanied by an unfeigned grimace, and then slumped against the wall.

"How long have you been trapped?" I asked.

"No idea. Long enough to have lost all sense of information. My watch no longer displays anything useful. »

I looked at Aria. The three boys wore the same black armband as us. The one who had just come out was breathing with difficulty and, behind him, the other two were obviously not in better condition.

"Take him to the camp we passed," I said, pointing to the first one. "I'm going to get the other two."

His expression changed instantly.

"Are you giving me orders now?"

"I don't decide for you, Aria. I distributed the wounded. He breathes badly. If we wait, he could die there. »

Aria looked down at the boy. Her breathing was jerky and each breath produced a sound that I hated. She gritted her teeth. I knew for a fact that under normal circumstances, she would have found at least three ways to make me regret my tone. There, even she could see that we had no time to lose.

"And you?" she asked. "Do you really plan to stay here alone with the other two?"

"I'll get them out, and then I'll come and join you."

"That's not what I asked you for."

I suppressed a sigh.

"If there's a problem, I'll call you. I promise you. »

She stares at me for a few more seconds, visibly dissatisfied with this guarantee, before removing the second torch from its holder to light it with the first.

"Very good. But don't you dare to get into the habit of deciding for me. »

"I wouldn't dare."

His look made me realize that I had probably chosen the wrong time to joke.

She put the injured boy's arm around her shoulders and helped him to his feet. The torch threw their distorted figures onto the walls as they walked away. Aria took a few more steps, then turned to me one last time.

"Casimir."

"I know. No nonsense. »

She didn't answer, but her expression said it all. Then she went on her way.

I found myself alone in front of the landslide, with both bodies and this certainty that had not left me since our arrival: something was with us in the mine.

I checked the breathing of the first injured boy. It was weak, but regular. After dragging him out of the way, I hoisted him up on my shoulder and headed back to the camp. Carrying someone into this gallery, a torch in hand and the railings under their feet, was anything but practical. Its weight weighed on my shoulder, and every irregularity in the ground threatened my balance. Blood had soaked his clothes and ran down my back, warm against my skin. With each step, his short breath brushed against my ear.

I wasn't used to carrying someone, let alone in the dark.

In front of me, Aria was moving forward with the only boy still conscious. Her voice came in snippets as she questioned him.

"The collapse... It didn't happen naturally," he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Aria, stopping abruptly.

"Someone provoked him. Someone... Dropped rocks on us. »

Aria glanced over her shoulder. We thought the same thing: this presence had perhaps been watching us since we entered the mine.

I continued to camp. The weight of my body and the warmth of the torch made every step difficult. An orange glow ended up dancing on the walls in front of us.

"I'm here!" announces Aria.

She had already installed the first survivor near the fire. Seeing me coming, she came to meet me.

"Casimir... Is everything okay?"

I dropped the injured boy down before standing up. My legs were shaking and my arms were burning, but I didn't see the point of giving him the full list.

"Of course. Why? »

Her expression indicated that she was not convinced.

"On the way back, he told me that the stones had not fallen on their own. Someone had forced them to give in. »

We had considered the possibility of a trap when we heard the call, but not that the landslide itself was one. Someone could have followed the three boys, waited for them to reach that place and caused the gallery to collapse without showing up. We then took exactly the same path.

"Really? So you think something was going to happen to me? »

I had tried to adopt a light tone. Aria didn't pay attention to it and leaned over to the boy I had just brought back.

"Give it to me. I'm going to set it up by the fire. »

She supported the injured boy's shoulders while I helped him crawl onto the abandoned blanket. I took a moment to wipe the sweat from my brow with the back of my sleeve.

"Very good. I'm going back for the last one. »

"Be careful," she whispered without looking up, her hands busy checking the boy's pulse.

I took the torch and left. As I was leaving the camp, Aria resumed her questions.

"Did you do anything in particular before you got trapped here?"

"What do you mean?" the boy replied in a weak voice, almost a whisper.

"Have you seen anyone? The enemy of the territory? Or did you find something strange? »

"No... We just set up this camp and tried to light a fire. Then we explored the surroundings a bit. That's when Silas gets a glimpse of something that was shining. We approached to see what it was and... There was a jolt. The stones collapsed suddenly. »

His voice weakened, then returned after a few seconds.

"When I managed to reach Silas, I saw a figure above us. I didn't have time to understand what it was. She hit something near the vault and everything collapsed. »

"Who is Silas?" asked Aria.

"The one that's still over there," he sighed.

The halo of my flashlight was already only shining a few meters around me. Beyond it stretched a black thicker than night, motionless, as if Argemira had never known anything but her own shadows. Every crack caught my attention. If anyone had caused the landslide, they knew how many there were and where they had come from. He may have waited for the three to get close to what glittered before knocking, which meant he hadn't just dropped stones randomly.

Aria's voice and the survivor's voice finally faded behind me. I joined the declines and knelt beside the last wounded boy. He was semi-conscious, his face covered in gray dust. After checking his breathing, I pulled him out of the way and placed him on my back as gently as my exhaustion would allow.

This time the walk seemed interminable. The distance was the same, but the combined weight of the two rescued people weighed on my shoulders and my legs protested with each step. The flashlight flickered in my hand, casting shadows on the walls that seemed longer to us. I had to stop once to move the boy and listen to his breathing. It was short, but not weak.

When I returned to the camp, my throat was on fire and my arms were out of breath. I put the boy next to the other two, then I crouched down for a few seconds to catch my breath.

"Enough is enough. Everyone is outside. »

"Thank you very much," whispered the only survivor still conscious.

"Rest. While we wait for your companions to wake up, we secure the camp. »

Aria gave me a brief nod. Despite her newfound calm, she seemed mostly relieved to see me return safe and sound.

"By the way, Casimir?"

"Yes?"

"I haven't forgotten what happened earlier."

I immediately understood what she was talking about.

"I suspected it."

"You were right not to waste time with the injured woman," she admits. "But that doesn't change what I told you. Next time, don't decide on your own to stay while I'm leaving. »

His tone was no longer very harsh. Now that I was back, she could finally blame me for it without having to hide it.

"Very well," I said. "I should have said it differently. And above all, you leave the choice. »

She stares at me for a moment longer, as if to check that I wasn't just trying to soothe her.

"If you can admit it, then I forgive you."

I leaned against the wall, the time it took for my breathing to return to its normal rhythm. The cold stone against my back could almost have convinced me to sleep there. My palms were scratched raw by the blocks I had moved, and the dust clung to the sweat of my forearms. But the wounded had to be treated before I could think of rest.

Aria and I fueled the fire with the wood left behind. The flame lit up the pale faces of the three boys. Their skin had taken on the waxy hue of those who had spent too much time under the rock. Their sleep was far from peaceful. Their eyes moved under their eyelids, their fingers twitched, and one of them let out short moans.

We moved a few stones to settle in. We unrolled the blanket, moved the provisions closer to the fire and prepared three more torches with pieces of wood salvaged from a cart and lamp oil. The mine seemed to hold its breath around us, as if waiting for our decision.

Aria worked alongside me with her usual precision. She said nothing and I felt no need to break the silence. We had only known each other for a few weeks, but his presence was no longer usual. When she disappeared from my field of vision, I knew where she was by the sound of her footsteps or the rustling of her sleeve on the stone. This habit had set in without me noticing.

"What... What happened? One of the boys stammered, opening his eyes.

"My head is still spinning," another murmured, putting a hand to his head.

"Who are you?" the first one asked, uncomfortable.

I am kept at a distance, my hands clearly visible. Aria stood back slightly and let me answer. In their condition, it was better to avoid the slightest gesture that could have made them feel threatened.

"Try to come to your senses first. I will explain everything to you. »

Around the fire, I told them about our arrival in the Block, Mushroom, and the journey that had led us there. I didn't detail each day, only what could be useful to them: the map, the enemies linked to the territories, Albert's death and the objects received thanks to the inhabitants. We speak in low voices, as if a noise that is too sudden might attract the attention of what lurks in the galleries.

At first, their questions flew after each of my sentences. Little by little, they grew away from each other. The boy who had remained conscious under the stones was mainly observing his companions.

The one sitting on his left followed my explanations with an attention that persisted despite the pain. The youngest, on the other hand, kept checking that his bag was still within reach.

"My name is Casimir," I concluded. "And she's Aria."

The boy who had called us from behind the landslide straightened up against the wall. Despite his injuries, he waited until he was seated before answering us.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Kellan. »

During our conversation, his attention regularly shifted from fire to our watches, and then to the two boys sitting next to him. He had waited for them to wake up before he even started asking about his own situation.

"I'm Milo," says the boy sitting to his left.

Milo had an open face and a bright look. One hand remained near his temple, where the pain seemed to return in waves, but he examined our watches, the map still displayed on mine and the torches we had just prepared. His attention would come back every time one of us mentioned point A, the territories or the functioning of our watches. His curiosity was already taking over.

"Silas," said the youngest.

He said nothing. His bag stays against his legs, and when a shiny stone slips slightly out of the opening, he puts it back inside before turning his attention back to us.

Aria has spoken.

"We come from Mist Mushroom, a few hours from here. We defeated the enemy of the territory with the help of the locals. It was their leader, infected with a parasite. Without Bikao and Casimir, we wouldn't be here. »

"Oh yes? Did you really beat him yourselves? Milo asked.

Aria looked away. Kellan notices this and does not insist. The victory over Albert was not as easy to read as a result displayed on a map. There had been Briana, her arm, the fear of contagion and that last moment when the man they had been waiting for three years had collapsed.

"You did most of the work. We can't do this without you. »

She responded with a brief smile, then returned her attention to the fire. Milo continued after a few seconds:

"On our map, we only have Argemira and point A. We haven't really known where to go for weeks. »

"I forgot to update mine," I whispered.

I turned on the screen of my watch. Mushroom appeared, displaying the information revealed after we left. Argemira loomed in the west, marked with two stars.

"Casimir?" called Aria in a sudden, harsher voice.

"Yes, I saw," I replied without taking my eyes off my screen. "Argemira has two stars."

"No. That's not it. »

I looked up at her. Aria stared at her wrist, her face pale under the bluish light of her screen.

"What is it?"

"The counter," she whispered without looking at me. "There were about a hundred of us at the beginning, weren't we?"

I looked for the number displayed above the map. The fire crackled behind us.

"That changed some time ago," Milo said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my heart pounding as my eyes rested on the row of figures.

"There are only ninety-two players left," he replied. "Unless I'm wrong."

Ninety-two. It took me a moment to understand what that number implied. Eight people had died since we arrived. In just over a month, more than one person has gone missing on average every week, and we have only crossed one territory until now. At this rate, the ten years granted by Rule 404 were no longer reassuring.

We had a village, food, people who could train us, and several weeks to prepare for our first fight. Others had to wake up in the cold, without water, or in the face of an enemy they did not understand. The ninety-two survivors were not necessarily the ones who had deserved it the most. Maybe we were just the lucky ones.

Kellan scrolls through the CV on his watch.

"Four players died because of an enemy," he read. "Three others because of the weather or the lack of supplies. And the last one was killed by... »

He paused, rereading the sentence.

"Why are you stopping?" asked Aria.

"What I just read... You will find it hard to believe. »

"Say it anyway. Given where we are, nothing can surprise me anymore. »

Kellan looked down at his screen again, the bluish glow underlining the tension on his face.

"He was killed by another player."

No one answers. Aria may have been waiting for him to correct her sentence, but no explanation came.

"You mean there's one who... Kill others? She finally asks.

A player had killed someone. One of those who had woken up in a white room like ours had already turned his gun on another. The system did not specify the circumstances or the reason. Only the cause of death and a name.

"You can't trust everyone anymore," Silas said. "If people start killing each other... »

"His name is displayed," Kellan continues. "His name is Kaedran."

Kaedran. I clung to this name. We didn't know enough to understand what had really happened, but enough to remain cautious if we passed them. After all, in the Bloc, some criminals could very well be real criminals.

"It's good to know his name," I said. "We can prepare if we meet them."

Based on the principle that a meeting would give us time to understand who was standing in front of us.

Silas takes a long breath before breaking the silence.

"And when someone dies... Do his personal items in the watch disappear? »

No one bothered to answer.

"Because otherwise, it would be a waste, wouldn't it?"

All eyes turned to him.

"What? That's a real question. »

Kellan just stares at him without answering. Kaedran's name lingers between us for a few more seconds, until Milo resumes in a less confident voice:

"Excuse me, I know this is not the time..." but you said that Argemira had two stars?" »

"This information came after the defeat of the Mistmushroom enemy," Aria explained. "They weren't visible before."

"And what does that mean?" asked Kellan.

"We don't know," I replied. "It could represent the danger of the territory, its climate, its size or the power of its enemy. For the moment, there is nothing to confirm this. »

Kellan reports his attention to the map displayed on the screen.

"Mistmushroom has a star. And after Argemira, do you plan to go elsewhere? I imagine that the difficulty increases as we advance in the territories. »

"We'd like to go back to point A," I replied. "It's just south of here."

"We thought we could find more information there," Aria added, moving the map closer to the light of the fire.

Leaning against the wall, Milo followed the path with his eyes.

"We also have its location on our map. It seems very close, but we couldn't find any way out. »

"I guess we'll have to defeat Argemira's enemy first," I whispered.

"Oh no... Silas whispered.

"Don't worry. There are five of us now," Kellan tries to reassure him.

"But we don't have a single weapon," Silas objected, raising his bare hands.

"It's true," Kellan admits, his enthusiasm waning immediately.

Aria smiled slightly and turned on the screen of her watch.

"Casimir and I bought ours from Mistmush."

She detached her bow from her shoulder and presented it to them. Then, without asking my opinion, her principal descended to my side and took my dagger out of its scabbard. She held it flat so that the three boys could examine it.

"Unfortunately, we have nothing else to give you," Aria added, throwing her bow over her shoulder before putting my dagger back in its sheath herself, as if taking it without permission gave her the right to put it away as well.

"You can always do something by exploring," I suggested.

Kellan shakes his head.

"Even with your torches, it seems risky to me."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if something happens to us, we have no way to defend ourselves or heal our wounds. You can help us, but you won't be able to protect us at every moment. We end up becoming a burden. »

He wasn't looking for a reassuring answer. He was simply evaluating our chances with the means at our disposal. Next to me, Aria's fingers tightened slightly.

"I unlocked something by defeating the Mushroom enemy," Aria explains. "I can create a kind of clan."

The three boys immediately turned their heads towards her.

"If we do, it will be easier for the five of us. We will be able to move forward together, we will protect each other and above all we will not find ourselves alone somewhere."

"At point A, there were signs that talked about this feature," Milo said. "I didn't understand everything at the time, but now it's clearer."

Any remarks? I didn't even remember seeing one. Between the voice of 404, the smoke and the panic of waking up, I probably had other things to look at. Maybe Milo had woken up closer to a wall, or just noticed what I didn't know. Anyway, what he described was the option that Aria had just discovered.

"So I might as well enjoy it," I said. "With five of us, we will always have a better chance than if everyone stayed in their corner."

Silas, on the other hand, had a much less enthusiastic expression.

"So we're going to form a team when we don't even know each other?"

"Casimir and I didn't know each other at first, either," Aria replied. "And yet, we are still here, and I have no intention of abandoning it. If he remains docile enough, he should even survive a little longer. »

"Was it really worth pointing out?"

"Of course. People need to know who they are dealing with. »

A slight smile brushed her lips before she turned her attention back to the three boys.

"For you, it will be the same. I am not asking you to prove anything to me now. If you stay with us, we will move forward together. »

I wasn't surprised. Since our arrival, Aria could be demanding, authoritative, and particularly satisfied when she got what she wanted. But abandoning someone on the pretext that he might become a nuisance was not in his habits. The simple word "burden" would probably be enough to make her react.

"I thought Casimir would take over the leadership of the group," Silas says. "And do not count on me to obey all your orders. I do what I like. »

"Silas, we wouldn't have survived without them," Kellan said. "For now, you could at least listen to what she tells you. Please consider yourself lucky to have met people who are willing to help us. »

Silas has brought his bag against him.

"You saw the counter as I did. You can't trust just anyone. I agree to stay with you, but what guarantees do we have that you won't steal from us or disappear with our belongings? »

Aria didn't answer right away. Her fingers clenched on the fabric of her coat. She could hardly promise them that she would not abandon them. Silas's distrust had proved to be more well-founded than he had imagined.

"What are you playing?" asks Kellan. "If they had wanted to rob us, they would have taken your bag while we were unconscious and we would have left it under the stones. We are stuck in the same situation and they are not the ones who caused the landslide. »

"How can you be sure?" retorted Silas, his voice trembling but aggressive. "We were in total darkness."

"Not me. Since I've been here, I've sometimes seen in the dark. What caused the stones to fall had claws and fur. »

The face falls back into silence. Silas stopped clutching his bag against him, his fingers still resting on the canvas.

"Wait... Wasn't it a joke? Can you really see in the dark?"

"Yes. Well, not all the time," Kellan said. "I don't know how it works yet."

It reminded me of what Brad had noticed during our training. According to him, something abnormal was happening around me without him being able to determine the cause. Kellan's vision may have had nothing to do with it. For the moment, we didn't even know what questions to ask.

"You should apologize to Aria," Milo says, turning his head towards his companion.

Silas was silent for a long moment, staring at the dust at her feet, before looking up at her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I spoke without thinking. Since we arrived, I have the impression that everything that has no value ends up being abandoned somewhere. I judged you before I even tried to find out who you were. »

Aria has her time to answer.

"You're right about one thing: you can't trust everyone. But I'd like to believe that there are still people like Casimir. People who don't abandon anyone for fear of becoming a burden. »

She didn't take her eyes off Silas, holding his gaze to prove her sincerity.

"I want to become a leader he can rely on. I was hoping to be the same for you, but I should have said it more clearly from the get-go. »

I bring my attention back to the flames. It was easier to watch the wood burn than to let anyone notice the effect of his words.

"Then you've convinced me," Silas says, holding out his hand. "But give me a little freedom. I hate being at the mercy of a boss. »

"Silas... Milo whispered, embarrassed by his friend's audacity.

Aria shook his hand without hesitation.

"I'm fine with that. But being free does not mean that you can walk away alone and put yourself in danger without prevention. »

"Very well," Kellan said. "Now that everyone agrees, we can begin."

Aria brushed her watch. The Clan Creation option appears on the screen, accompanied by an empty list. She added us one by one. The names of Kellan, Milo, and Silas follow mine. Each confirmation produced a discreet click, like that of a chain closing.

"It's... Is that all? Silas asked, visibly disappointed by the simplicity of the procedure.

"No," Aria replied, her fingers hanging over the dial. "Now I have to choose a name."

"We need a name that catches the eye!" exclaimed Kellan, suddenly enthusiastic.

"Do you think we can leave the field empty?" I asked.

"Don't you want us to have a name?" asked Aria, looking at me.

"I especially want to go unnoticed," I explains. "The more attention we get, the more we give Kaedran, or anyone else, a reason to be interested in us. You just have to create a space, something invisible. »

She thought for a moment, then nodded before brushing her watch.

"I can confirm availability. Like this. »

A message appeared on our screens.

Aria has designated you as the leader of the clan.

Milo reread the sentence before looking up at me.

"So the role of leader is yours in the end, Casimir."

"Why me?" I protested, caught off guard.

"You'll be better off," Aria replied. "And then, you chose the name..." if we can call it a name. »

She turned to the three boys, crossing her arms with an authority that tolerated no discussion.

"As for you, I remain your superior."

I was going to protest, but she was on the lookout for the slightest contradiction. She had found a way to pass the responsibility on to me while keeping the ascendancy. This arrangement suited him too well for a discussion to be of any use.

"I have the Mistmushroom map!" exclaimed Milo.

"Do the clan members share their cards?" asked Silas.

His surprise did not last. He examined the new information displayed on his screen with an attention that contrasted with his mistrust of a few minutes earlier.

Kellan finally raised his head.

"We've been here for a while and we've just been talking. We should explore. »

"He has a reason," Aria says. "Let's go."

While the others were preparing to leave the camp, Kellan waited for them to get a little ahead of the curve before talking to me.

"When we both have a moment, I'll have something to show you."

"Okay."

He joined the others without giving any further explanation. I stay by the fire for a moment. The warmth of the hearth barely reached my hands, and beyond the circle of light, the galleries multiplied without us knowing which one would lead us closest to the exit.

When we entered Argemira, Aria and I were only looking for a passage to point A. There were now five of us, bound by an unnamed clan, warned of the existence of a killer, and a creature lurking in the darkness already knew where to look for us