Nate kept working on the dungeons with Aura and Angie. They were mostly doing busywork, changing traps, working to make them better, and the like. In the beginning, it had been interesting; now, after months of doing the same thing over and over again, it had started to lose its shine.

  Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for Angie and Lindsay, as they were still new to it.

  Nate enjoyed the initial construction of dungeons more than the fine-tuning they were currently doing. Though he imagined that was probably the case with most people as well.

  Luckily for him, he had plenty of dungeons he could still create. It was just a matter of spending the resources to do so.

  Aura suddenly perked up shortly before they crossed the border into Kentucky. Thanks to how few dimensional zones there were in the area, they had only run into easy-to-kill monsters. With the low-qi density in the area, no monster that could think would stay there. That meant as soon as they gained even an ounce of intelligence, they left for richer pastures. They had made phenomenal time as a result.

  “The Shadow-Cat is back,” Aura announced, her gaze locked on the trees beside the road.

  Nate’s head snapped toward the window. The easy rhythm of the road trip, which had been so thoroughly shattered the night before and then again at the steel mill, had not yet returned.

  Lindsay, without a word, eased her foot off the accelerator, the noise from the Overlander dropping to a low growl amidst the rain. The windshield wipers kept their steady beat against the falling water, each sweep revealing the same stretch of wet, ruined asphalt and dense, dripping forest.

  Angie leaned over, her knuckles white from where she was gripping the overhead handles with all her strength. “Where? I don’t see anything.” Her voice held an unusual strain to it.

  When they stopped that night, they would need to find a good dungeon to work out their frustrations in before what was bothering her had time to fully settle in.

  “Same position as before. It is keeping pace with us, just inside the tree line,” Aura clarified, her telepathic voice calm but alert. She had moved to the center of the RV; her golden eyes fixed on a point to their right. Her five tails were held low and still, a sign of intense focus rather than aggression. “It is difficult even for my eyes to see. I’m relying more on my other senses to keep track of it. The cat moves like it is made of shadow itself. If you are not looking for it, you will not see it.”

  Nate strained his eyes, trying to pierce the gloom of the forest.

  The Kentucky woods were thick and ancient, a tangled mess of oak, maple, and dense undergrowth. Rain slicked the leaves, making the entire landscape shimmer with a dark, uniform sheen. He could see nothing but a blur of green and brown. Yet, he didn’t doubt Aura for a second. The memory of the men’s conversation in Columbus was still fresh. ‘Big as a panther, dark as a shadow… Doesn’t attack, just… watches.’

  “Is it the same feeling as the last time we encountered it?” Nate asked quietly, the unspoken question hanging heavy in the air.

  Aura took a moment to answer, her focus absolute. “Yes,” She finally sent, the single word washing a wave of relief through the vehicle. “The Shadow-Cat feels as though it belongs to the forest itself. Its qi is wild, which is normal for animals and powerful, but it belongs here. It is a part of this land, not whatever that was before.” She hesitated and then continued. “It is possible that the Shadow-Cat is a hybrid. The child of an animal that could cultivate and a beast from a dimensional zone.”

  Lindsay let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. Her shoulders, which had been bunched up around her ears, relaxed a fraction. “So, a proper beast, not a dimension-hopping nightmare. How often do hybrids come about?”

  “It would seem so,” Aura confirmed. “And pretty often. After the portal changes us, we become compatible with many species on the worlds we end up on.”

  That was not exactly a pleasant thought, considering some of the things they had seen inside the dungeons.

  Mika, who had been hiding on top of Angie’s jacket, poked her head out, twitching her whiskers. “Is it a friend?” She chirped. The weasel had been mostly quiet that day, instead of the constant chatterbox she had been before.

  “We don’t know that yet, little one,” Nate said, his gaze still fixed on the trees. “But at least it doesn’t seem to be a walking horror movie.” He turned to Lindsay. “Keep the same speed while you look for a place to stop for the night. Let’s not do anything to spook it. Aura, keep us updated on what it’s doing.”

  For the next ten minutes, they drove in a tense silence, the only sounds being the noise from the road, mixed with the quiet engine and the rain.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Aura provided a running commentary in their minds. The creature was matching their speed effortlessly, weaving through the dense forest without a sound. It was large, she confirmed, larger than any native mountain cat. She made sure to inform them that it was still smaller than her, though she did spend a worrying amount of time describing the beast’s muscles. Mentioning how they moved with a near liquid grace that hid the immense power they must hold in reserve. It made no move to get closer, content to shadow them from the relative safety of the trees.

  “It seems curious about us,” Aura mused, her ears swiveling. “All it is doing is examining the Overlander.”

  The idea of being scrutinized by an unseen, powerful predator would normally have been unsettling. After their brush with the abomination in the mill, it felt almost… mundane. This was a known quantity, a creature of rumor and local legend. It was a beast of their world, playing by rules they understood, however dangerous.

  “What could it be so curious about?” Nate wondered. “The people in Columbus said the Shadow-Cat has been around for years doing the same thing.”

  “I want to see it,” Lindsay said suddenly, her voice firm.

  Nate looked over at her. “And do what? Invite it in for tea? We just had a very bad experience stopping for no reason. Remember?”

  “There is a reason this time. I want to know what it wants,” Lindsay countered, her eyes still on the road. “Aura says it’s not hostile, just curious, and as you said, the men in Columbus mentioned it’s been doing this for years. It’s never attacked anyone. It’s only been a day, but I’m tired of being scared, Nate. I’m tired of running from shadows. The thing in the mill only made things worse because it was different. It was wrong. This… this is only a mystery.”

  Angie shifted uncomfortably. “Lindsay, maybe he’s right. Poking at powerful, unknown things hasn’t worked out well for us lately.” Despite her desire to throw off her fears, they had already begun to worm their way too deeply into her psyche.

  “We didn’t poke the last thing,” Lindsay shot back, a spark of frustration in her tone. “It was just… there. We walked into its lair by accident. This is different. This thing came to us. It’s following us. Don’t you want to know why?” She glanced at Aura. “What do you think?”

  Aura’s tails gave a slow, thoughtful swish. “Its intelligence is clear. It is not a mindless monster. Communication might be possible. I feel no obvious malice from it, only a profound curiosity, and… something else. A sort of loneliness. A desire to understand.” The image she projected was not of a predator, but of a solitary king surveying its domain, intrigued by the strange, noisy metal beetles that trespassed upon it.

  The idea of an intelligent beast feeling lonely resonated with Aura. Nate could feel her own longing for a peer in her mental projection. Mika was a child, a companion she doted on, but the Shadow-Cat was potentially something else entirely. An equal.

  Nate weighed their options. Lindsay was right; being perpetually on the defensive was exhausting. It was new to them; their journey had been about exploring the world while also going to the various cities. Outside of a few rare encounters, it had been far safer than any of them had expected it to be in the beginning, and they had gotten complacent.

  The encounter at the mill had been a harsh lesson in prudence, but it shouldn't turn them into cowards. If Aura, his most reliable gauge on what was and wasn’t a threat, sensed no ill intent, then perhaps a cautious investigation was indeed viable.

  “Alright,” Nate said, making a decision. “Find a spot to pull over. A wide shoulder, somewhere we have a clear line of sight. We’re not going to get out though. Not at first. We will wait to see what it does when we stop.”

  Lindsay gave a sharp, satisfied nod. A few miles down the road, they found a gravel turnout overlooking a shallow, rain-swollen creek. It was the perfect spot to camp for the night as well. The trees all around the creek thinned out slightly, offering them a better view.

  Slowing the heavy vehicle, Lindsay expertly guided the Overlander onto the gravel, the crunch of the tires loud in the quiet cab. With a look at the trees, she killed the engine.

  The sudden silence was absolute, broken only by the drumming of rain on the roof. Every eye was fixed on the tree line where the creature had last been seen. For a long moment, nothing happened. The forest was a wall of dripping wet greenery.

  “Did it run off?” Angie asked, her voice barely audible.

  “No,” Aura answered, her form completely rigid with concentration. “It has stopped as well. It is hiding. Watching. Waiting to see what we will do.”

  “Can you call out to it?” He asked. “If we are going to do this, we might as well do it right.”

  “Calling out to it would be easy,” Aura confirmed. “However, whether or not it will be able to reply in the same manner is another matter entirely. Don’t forget, I had to teach the skill to Mika.”

  They waited. The seconds stretched out like minutes, each one tightening the knot of tension in their chests. This was the critical moment. Would the creature reveal itself, or would it simply melt back into the woods, leaving them with nothing but more questions?

  While they were waiting, Aura continued to call out to it, crooning sweet nothings to the beast.

  Just as Nate was about to suggest they begin to start setting up for the night, a flicker of movement caught his eye. A shape detached itself from the deeper shadows and slowly stepped through the leaves of heavy, low-hanging branches. It was not a sudden appearance, but a gradual thing, as if a piece of the night had decided to take a solid form.

  It was beyond impressive.

  The creature was indeed larger than a mountain cat, but its build was leaner, more in line with a leopard. This was a being built for speed, and its rippling musculature was elegant. Its fur was not truly black, but the color of a moonless midnight, seeming to drink in the dim, overcast light. An effect that helped it to blend in with the shadows.

  It had no discernible markings visible from their current distance, just a coat of pure darkness. It had intelligent, almond-shaped eyes that glowed with a soft, internal silver light. They weren’t reflecting light back like a normal cat but producing their own glow. Long tufted ears swiveled constantly, sampling the air. But most striking was its tail—or rather, tails. Like Aura, it had more than one. Two long, whip-thin tails, each ending in a blade-like tuft of fur, swayed slowly behind it, independent of each other, like reeds in a slow-moving current.

  It took a few cautious steps out of the trees, its paws making no sound on the wet ground. Its movements were utterly fluid, a ripple of controlled power. It stopped at the edge of the gravel, its silvery eyes fixed on the Overlander. The gaze was intense, analytical, and utterly devoid of aggression.

  Thank you to all the people who have taken the time to rate the story and to my latest Patrons! I have other stories up on my Patreon, including my current WIPs. Which are now Created G.H.O.S.T. System(My Cyberpunk story), WetWorks2, plus The Restaurateur and His Daughter and DungeonFall. :)

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