“What do we know so far?”
Kohra shrugged as he watched Timik pace up and down. “Not much. Atmosphere is mostly oxygen and argon, with high amounts of carbon dioxide and oddly low levels of nitrogen. Weather seems to always be clear, with clouds not really forming. I don’t recognise any of the stars in the sky so we’re definitely not in Kronospast territories. Vegetation is rich and lush, meaning there’s lots of water and probably quite large amounts of life.”
The Kronospast inspected the drawings he had made in the dirt. He was only capable of seeing them since Phovos and Kayen had helpfully made a fire and a small shelter. The temperature was actually rather comfortable, all things considered, but it was possible that the wind could pick up and things might get cold, so it was best to prepare. Unfortunately, they hadn’t found anything to eat yet.
“And something’s passed through here lately…” Phovos added. “Lots of somethings. Heading in the direction I assume is south, based on the sun.”
“Surprised there’s only one main sun, actually…” Kohra shrugged again. “Turns out binary star systems are almost as common as single sun solar systems.”
“That doesn’t actually help us get out of here though!” Timik growled. “For all we know, we might be on a predator planet!”
“A what now?” Kayen had been getting more and more quiet as time went on. He was rubbing his eyes and seemed rather tired.
“You know!” Timik exclaimed. “A predator planet! A world where normal Temthans don’t live because there are already much bigger, much deadlier Temthanic beings living there! Like planet Thanatos 11!”
“Is that the one where those absolutely huge “world eater” Thraki live?” Phovos asked.
“Yes! We might be there!”
“I doubt it…” Phovos tutted.
“So what do we do?” Kohra asked. “We can’t really stay here, but if what Timik says is true, then we don’t really want to find other life either. But other life is our only real way out of here.”
“Best bet is to find a flowing water source then follow that. If there’s life, intelligent life, that’s our best chance of finding anything.”
“And what if we don’t?” Timik grunted. “What if we find nothing but hungry predators?”
“If there are predators, then there is food!” Phovos smiled. “I don’t know why you’re so worried, Temthans and Ksithans are among the most powerful and successful predators in the universe.”
Timik didn’t share Phovos’s optimism. It seemed odd that only an hour ago, she was saying weird things about the Thantophor having seen them or something, and now she seemed quite perky.
“There are monsters out there. We just escaped from monsters and are probably wandering into the jaws of more monsters!”
“So?” Phovos hissed. “We have no choice but to move on. You can stay here and get eaten if you want.”
“But what about Kayen? He’s in no position to go hiking!”
“We’ll carry him!” Phovos replied.
The Temthan relented, then turned to Kayen. “What’s wrong with you anyway?”
Kayen took a shallow breath. “Not enough nitrogen.”
“Are you… going to make it?” Phovos asked. “Do you need…”
“I’ll be fine. It just makes me lethargic, only breathing oxygen…” Kayen shrugged.
Timik took pity on the poor thing and helped him onto his back. Kohra picked himself up and put out the fire, while Phovos tried to get rid of traces of their presence. They’d decided to head south, although none of them really knew why.
“Question…” Kohra suddenly asked. “What else is considered the most powerful predator in the universe?”
“Banikans.” Phovos and Timik answered almost in unison.
“What does a Banikan even look like?” Kayen asked, yawning mid-sentence. “I only heard stories.”
“Massive, bipedal monsters with huge claws and even huger horns on their heads!” Timik laughed awkwardly. “Extremely muscular too. Didn’t skip leg day, not once.”
“What, like all those beings there?” Kayen pointed behind them.
The others turned around, then wished they hadn’t.
“Yeah…” Phovos whispered. “Exactly like those…”