Journey Through All Creatures

Chapter 46: The Depths of Aberration - The Elemental Vault

Note: Story starts in Achatina, The Island ABC order for Section I, Scorched Earth exclusives and Aberration exclusives for Section II and has a Prologue. Last chapter in Ravager, next chapter in Roll Rat.

Chapters to the end of Section II: 4!! Chapter 50 will be called Th X no r S ow

Cave Chapters: Aberration: Part 3/3: The Final Artifact

Day 8 of Aberration…

6:30 AM

The sun’s light slowly began to flood into the Ark. As its light began to enter the cave, light spread across the green zone. There stood a tall, mostly stone base with two floors. It sat atop a cliff and near the Mushroom Forest. There were railings on the cliff platform and on the back door. Inside was three beds, all with a storage box next to them. Sodden and Dorack sat on one, and lying on the bed was Sylveevee, her neck wrapped up in bandages and there were also gauze pads and bandages on her chest and legs. On the bed to the right of them was Reaper, who had bandages on her legs and claws, head, and her tail. Sodden sat there staring at Reaper, and Dorack was looking at Syl.

“How’s she doing this morning?” Dorack asked as he turned his head to Sodden. Sodden sighed.

“She’s been below half HP for days now. She’s still mostly stable now, though.” Sodden said. Dorack nodded slowly.

“Okay… uh, seems good. At least she’s better. Syl has been unconscious for some time, but she’s doing a lot better. The poison in her body has almost dissipated.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded slowly.

“Okay, good. Uh… how’s our metal doing?” Sodden asked. Dorack shrugged then stood up.

“Not sure. I’ll go check.” Dorack said. He then turned away and walked to the staircase to the second floor. There was a long line of forges on the other end of the floor, a smithy on one side and a fabricator and grill on the other. There were also two vaults next to the smithy. Dorack walked to the forges and saw that almost all the metal had finished smelting. Dorack then nodded and walked back downstairs.

“Most of our metal is done. You got the hide, right?” Dorack said. Sodden nodded.

“Yeah. Soon, we’ll have enough for two hazard suits. Hopefully we can do the Elemental Vault soon.” Sodden said. Dorack nodded slowly.

“Yeah. Hopefully.” Dorack chuckled. He then walked back upstairs and sighed softly. He walked to the forges, then used a pot to scoop the metal out of some of them. He moved the metal and hide to the smithy, then he took out all the red gems and gas balls that they had. It was enough for one full set of hazard suit. Dorack sighed.

“Sodden… no. I need to do this on my own.” Dorack whispered quietly. He was deeply concerned about Nal, and he was doubting if Serenity was even still alive, considering the circumstances. He knew how risky it was to leave him, but he knew he had to do something fast.

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Rod was drenched in a shiny and stitched together suit, which had a mask on the top and thick gloves and boots. He wore a hazard suit and was walking to Dread’s base. He stormed through the main gates, bashing the front door open and alerting everyone. Dread stood up from the office sitting just across from the door. The office had three computers, all with security camera for most of the base. Dread got up from the chair and turned to Rod.

“You said I had to come to talk with her.” Rod said. Dread chuckled.

“Yes. Yes. I did. That was the original plan for today. However, there was a little… complication that our little prisoner caused. So here’s the thing. She’s sitting in the Reaper cell dorms right now. She’s outside of the Reaper arena, the place where we execute those who dare go against me. I told her that she has one more chance to redeem herself with you. Said that if you two refuse to cooperate, Serenity’s going straight into the arena. And Xenideath is not afraid to strike at any prisoner that comes into her territory.” Dread said. Rod gasped.

“Wha… what did she even do? Why is she not in the arena yet?” Rod said sternly. Dread grinned and growled deeply.

“You see, she decided to release Queen Syl and ensure she went to help Sodden and his friend. I have a little… pattern with most of these prisoners. Getting impregnated by a Reaper Queen is bad enough, but it’s a billionfold times worse when it happens to someone who, may I reiterate… cannot respawn. These prisoners are the ones I bully further. Trauma, torture, extreme threats, that’s how I do things.” Dread sneered. Rod chuckled.

“In true Dread fashion. I should’ve known. Hmm. Anyway… let’s get on with our new plan.” Rod sneered. Dread chuckled.

“Still the same mean minion you always were. I knew it’d be hard for you on the Island, but when you got in contact with that noob Sodden and chickens Dorack and Nal, heh. It became so much easier. Come. Come. I’ll show you the way.” Dread said as he turned around and walked towards the door. Rod followed him as they both walked to the northeast part of the base, where the arena was.

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Sylveevee slowly groaned as her eyes began to open. Sodden sat on the bed next to her and turned around and gasped. Syl began to rub her eyes as she groaned. She began to sit up and look around.

“Hey. How you doing?” Sodden asked. Syl gasped as she turned to him.

“Hi. Doing good. Uh… how long was I out?” Syl said. Sodden sighed.

Around four days. We advanced a lot in time and we’re soon gonna do the Elemental vault. You’ll have to come with us to help.” Sodden explained. Syl gasped softly.

“What- what about the Aberration Kingdom? How are they doing?” Syl asked.

“We don’t know. We haven’t seen them. Maybe check your tribe logs.” Sodden said. Syl nodded and looked down at her implant. She tapped it lightly and she looked through the holographic menu that popped up. She looked at the tribe logs and saw almost nothing. The past four days were mostly inactive. She did see some messages from tribemates about her army and about Dread’s actions, but it wasn’t very important. Sodden sighed.

“Is Serenity even still alive?” Sodden asked nervously. Syl nodded.

“Probably. I know Dread. He likes torturing and bullying his prisoners. You can bet Dread did some horrible stuff to her in the past few days.” Sylveevee said. Dorack sighed softly and turned away. Sodden turned to Dorack and walked to him.

“Hey. Something wrong?” Sodden said. Dorack sighed as he reached into his bag.

“Nah, nothing. Uh… I already made the first hazard suit. Why don’t you go out and get the last of the resources and I’ll stay here with Queen Syl and Reaper.” Dorack said. Sodden nodded in agreement and turned to the door, then walked out of it, holding his bag. Dorack then walked to the door and closed it. Dorack then turned to Sylveevee.

“Okay, I need your help to do the Elemental Vault.” Dorack said. Syl sighed.

“I mean… yeah. I could become a Rock Drake and go there soon. Just…” Syl said, then Dorack cut in. He took a suit out of his bag and began putting it on.

“No. We’re going now. I can’t let this keep happening. This is something Serenity would want us to do at this point. Nal will be finished for good in a week. Rod is who knows where, probably in Dread’s base plotting a raid or something.” Dorack said. Syl gasped and stood up.

“Listen. I know how hard things are for you all, but we can’t just rush things and try and push hard. The only reason Reaper is still alive is because I intervened. I did what I knew was right. But if we expose ourselves again, terrible things will happen.” Syl said. Dorack groaned loudly.

“You don’t understand. Sodden… he’s the sole reason why we even decided to hunt down the Assassin Heart in the first place! Nal… she’s been with me for so long and went through so much! Didn’t you hear about the whole Snowball thing?” Dorack said. Syl sighed and nodded slowly, but before she could say anything, Dorack cut in.

“Queen Sylveevee, I request you to carry me to the Elemental Vault to get the last artifact. I’m trying to protect Sodden and get closer to saving Nal!” Dorack stated sternly.

“By risking everything? All the things you went through to get here? If Rock Death sees us, they will hunt us down. Camoflauge won’t help as you’ll still be visible on my back. I’m not just your normal everyday transport creature! Ugh. The point is, what you are doing is very dangerous and too risky. It risks the lives of me, you, Sodden, the rest of the gang, and my own kingdom. I… I can’t do it. I’m sorry.” Syl said sternly, then sighed and sat down on the bed and looked down. Dorack growled and turned to the door.

“Well… even if we go there normally, we still have a risk of getting caught. If we wait, it means less time to save Nal and less time to prepare for a raid against these people. We have to do this. It’s risky. But it’s for the betterment of all of us.” Dorack said. Syl sighed and stood up, then walked to Dorack.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Unlike natural Rock Drakes, I can’t give camouflage to the rider. So you are going to need to stay hidden.” Syl explained, with nervousness in her voice.

“Yes. Yes I am sure.” Dorack stated. Syl sighed and nodded slowly.

“Okay, fine. If you insist. But if we go down, the blame’s all on you.” Syl said sternly. Dorack nodded, then both survivors walked out the door, and Syl then morphed into a Rock Drake. Dorack got on and Syl then became transparent, matching the color of the ground and trees and walls. Syl then lifted off the ground. Dorack held on tight to the feathers as Syl zoomed forward, beginning to glide. Dorack put his hazard suit on while the two were talking so Dorack was all set. But could he do it and get home safely?

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A large pair of gates bursted open. Rod used a metal club to burst them open. As he entered the room, he saw a large row of seats, each one enveloped in iron rods and ceilings. There was a small lock on each cell. Most of the cells were empty, and the rows of seats extended downwards around 8 rows until reaching a large metal railing. Beyond that was a large dome with tek surrounding the place, and transparent essence guarding the place and protecting from radiation. On ground level was a flat, rocky and sandy surface, with almost no foliage around. On the back side was a large pair of gates, made mostly of metal and stone. Near the center of the arena was a slightly lifted, curved, black pile of rocks. It seemed to be a burrow of some kind.

One of the cells near the bottom and next to the railing had someone in it. She sat crouched down, her head down between her knees. Rod walked down the stairs towards the cell. Rod looked around the area and then stormed to the cell, then banged it hard with a metal club. Serenity then gasped as she turned around and stood up.

“We need to chat. Step out of line one time and I’m throwing you straight into that arena.” Rod said. Serenity nodded in affirmatiion, then Rod whistled loudly and the two heard deep growling. Then the burrow shook and suddenly, lots of dirt was shot up into the sky as a creature launched outwards. Then the creature’s feet came down on the ground as it shrieked loudly and looked up at the stands. Rod chuckled as he stared at the creature.

“Ah, beautiful, isn’t it? If this hasn’t traumatized you for life, I don’t know what will. Anyway… about what happened four days ago.” Rod sneered. He sat in a nearby chair next to the cell. Serenity gasped as she turned around to see the Reaper Queen storming around the area, sniffing the ground.

“I originally wanted to talk about everything that’s been going down recently. I wanted to talk about maybe sending you back to the Island or something. But now… you’re just gonna sit here and rot. I don’t care what happens to you. What I care about is getting that idiot Sodden dealt with. Ugh. If it wasn’t for you and that idiot Queen Syl, we would finally had killed Reaper.” Rod growled. Serenity gasped softly.

“If she and Syl had died, we would’ve seen it on our implants since we assisted in that. But we didn’t. So listen up. You’re gonna stay here. You get almost nothing for the next week. Heh. By then… you’ll be begging to die.” Rod sneered. Serenity gasped then started banging on the cell door, yelling and swinging her arms at Rod. Rod backed away a little.

“Heh. Dread once took down a entire Reaper with nothing but his fists. I wouldn’t suggest trying to go against him.” Rod growled. Serenity then stopped and looked around the area, then looked back at Rod. She had tears in her eyes and a heavily bruised chest.

“I knew what I was doing. I knew Dread would easily annihilate these people on their own. I had to send Syl to save them. On The Island, you seemed like a completely normal, good-hearted survivor. But down here, you’re just the same little idiot you were during the Ravage.” Serenity said softly. Rod chuckled lightly.

“I refuse to listen to you. This would’ve been so much easier on you, Sodden, Dorack, and Nal if all you did was just… not do it. If you didn’t bring me. If you didn’t go with the others. They would’ve failed without you and they will still fail even with your help. All you did was destroy your friends faster than what would have happened if you hadn’t even gone. I saw no reason to return to Aberration until I heard about you guys. Anyway… you’d better step up as a prisoner here. Dread already treats you bad enough here. And I know you’re getting PTSD from just being here. If you don’t wanna get impregnated, then I suggest you slow your roll way down.” Rod growled deeply. He then scoffed and turned away. Serenity was silent. She sat down, gasping softly. Rod stormed up the stairs.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Rod sneered as he stopped halfway up and turned his head.

“Seems like a old friend of yours wants to say hi.” Rod growled deeply as he pointed to the arena to see the Reaper Queen staring at Serenity’s cell and screeching at it , banging on the walls. Serenity gasped in fear and backed away. As the Reaper’s tail bashed against the wall, Serenity’s heart began pumping faster as she gasped quickler. Rod cackled as he stormed to the door and opened it, then slammed it closed. The Reaper Queen screeched as it leaped up high and grabbed the railings. Serenity gasped as she turned away.

“No… no…” Serenity gasped. The Reaper Queen couldn’t do anything to her because of the height, but it could still terrorize her. The Reaper screeched in her face as Serenity crouched down and covered her head, screaming and gasping.

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Dorack sat on Syl’s back, traversing through the Red Zone. As he did, the Rock Drake hovered over Dread’s large base, and a arena. Dorack gasped as he looked down at the arena. He saw a Reaper Queen inside of it, screeching at something in the stands. Syl gasped.

“Dorack, keep your head down.” Syl said sternly. Dorack sighed.

“Something’s happening down there.” Dorack said. Syl sighed.

“We don’t have time for this. Stay hidden. We’ll chat later.” Syl said. Dorack groaned softly and leaned back onto Syl’s back as Syl kept gliding through the red zone.

They continued until they reached the southernmost part of the Red Zone, where there were multiple crevices and creatures. Dorack gasped as he saw the opening to the cave, the vast valleys and rivers of Element, and the deadly creatures of Reapers and Megalosaurs. Syl then glided through the medium-sized dark blue opening to the cave, gliding along a cliffside going down to a bright pink Element river. As they were gliding, Dorack looked down at his implant to see a notification from Sodden. He had gotten multiple messages since he left asking where Dorack was. And Reaper was in no condition to travel across even a small distance, let alone to the other end of the entire Aberration cave. And there was no way Sodden was traversing the entire map on foot again. Dorack sighed as he looked at the messages. He didn’t want to respond to them. He was confused about everything, but he was trying what he could to help. Syl entered the small cave entrance, gliding across elemental rivers and climbing cliffsides. They continued going through paths and chambers until reaching a massive drop-off in the middle of a chamber. The cliff went down to a large elemental pool. And in the middle of the chamber, just up front of the entrance, was a container. It had specks of light gleaming across it, and it shone brightly, humming quietly, and a beam of light shot through the middle of its center. Dorack got off the Rock Drake and walked towards the artifact container. He then put his hands on the lid of the container, and groaned as he shoved it off. The top then fell off and crashed off the edge of the cliff and fell down the pit. Dorack sighed and lifted the artifact out of the container and put it into his bag. Dorack nodded.

“That’s it. All three secured. Now we just gotta rescue Nal and Serenity then we can get the heck out of here.” Dorack said. Syl growled deeply to interrupt then she glowed brightly as she condensed down into her human form. As a shapeshifter, she was immune to radiation so she didn’t need a hazard suit. Syl sighed and walked to Dorack.

“You can’t just barge in there with a whole bunch of creatures and steal them back. It’s not that simple. Dread and his tribe have dozens of Megalosaurs in their defense army and a lot of Rock Drakes in their creature army too. There’s 4 Reapers in that army, including… uh… I don’t remember what her name is. I do know that it includes the Reaper that attacked Serenity. You’re gonna need my help to raid them, but it’s very risky to escort our army to your base. We saw how risky that was a few days ago.” Syl said. Dorack nodded.

“Agreed. But it has to be done. I think what you can do is return to your base to think of a plan. After you bring me back, of course. Then, me and Sodden can try to hatch as many Rock Drakes and Megalosaurs as possible. We only have seven days, though.” Dorack said. Syl sighed and turned away.

“Yeah… but how do you think Sodden’s gonna like all that? He doesn’t want to rush too much because he’s trying to protect us. I wouldn’t suggest going near the Rock Drake trench for half a week at least. Dread and his tribe are continuously raiding that nest so many times. If you push too hard, well… it can mean the end for you, Sodden, Serenity, and Nal. Nal’s essence goes away for good, Serenity experiences a slow and painful death, you get your implant shattered by Dread, and Sodden gets shipped to The Island where Terad does the rest.” Syl stated, with nervousness in her voice. Dorack had a confident look on his face.

“We’re already at risk of that kind of stuff right now. Waiting is bad. Means less time. You did say we needed time to get creatures.” Dorack said. Syl groaned and walked to Dorack.

“A mission to the trench means you get all the eggs there, and get out. You could do that in four to five days or something. You could get a massive army by the time you’re done. On like the 15th day or whatever of your time here-” Syl stated, then Dorack gasped and interrupted angrily.

“15? 15 days!! That leaves like 12 hours to save Nal! And… and what if it fails? What if you can’t get the army there and we can’t beat them and we… are you even listening?” Dorack yelled.

“Dorack, you need to be positive and confident in yourself. Okay? I get it’s hard to trust anyone when there’s so little that can be done, but we have to try all we can to do this.” Syl said as she put her hands on Dorack’s shoulder. Dorack took a deep breath.

“You do not understand the emotional and physical connection my tribe has with themselves. We’ve been through a lot. Especially what happened on April 27, 2023…” Dorack said, his voice breaking as he said the numbers. Syl sighed.

“Hey. Sodden’s waiting for you. Besides, your hazard suit isn’t gonna last forever. We’ll talk later.” Sylveevee said. Dorack nodded, smiling. Sylveevee then morphed back into a Rock Drake and Dorack got on her back. Then Syl glided straight out of the cave and towards the green zone.

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After around an hour, Dorack and Syl arrived back at Dorack’s base, and Sodden was standing outside the front door. He was staring at the incoming Rock Drake. Then it landed on the ground next to the door and Dorack hopped off, and Syl morphed back into a human. Dorack sighed and turned to Sodden.

“Bro… again? Why do we have to do this every time? This… this is too risky for all of us. Stop. Where were you anyway?” Sodden said sternly. Dorack walked to him and reached into his bag and took out a artifact.

“I went with Sylveevee to get the Artifact of the Stalker. It was pretty easy and straightforward because, well, you know.” Dorack said. Sodden sighed.

“You are putting us all at risk. If this happens one more time-” Sodden said, then Dorack interrupted.

“We do not have time to wait. We’re just cutting it too close! Syl gave out a plan that only gave us like 12 hours to get Nal back and it literally could go wrong in so many ways. I’m done.” Dorack yelled. He stormed into the base and slammed the door before Sodden could say anything else. Sodden opened his mouth to say something, then he just looked away and sighed.

“Just go back to your base. We’ll talk later. We have some preparations to do.” Sodden said. Syl nodded and morphed into a Rock Drake then took off. Sodden turned around and walked into the base, closing the door behind him.

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-RelatingHen8906