The further north we went, the more voranders were present. The seas were full of them, all manner of twisted and unnatural beings patrolling the waters regularly in large groups. Even those that were larger in size were accompanied by others of their kind.

  I could sense other groups like mine, those who had been recalled from the frontlines to return to the north. Where normal beasts would follow their instincts and voranders would cause chaos, the species I could detect were quiet and minimally moving. The parasites that had taken over were not present in every vorander, as I could sense a normal vorander attacking and eating one that had been infected, yet it made no move to retaliate. An oddity that I couldn't make sense of.

  I still continued with my training, but whenever I took the occasional break, I would look outwards and notice the size of the vorander army, or at least the aquatic part of it that was within range of my senses. Even from my position, there were scores of transporters with troops inside them, not to mention the groups of patrols. I saw no point in taming any of them, as they weren't hostile to me at the moment, and their presence was better served being where they were than tied to me.

  More than anything else, I could tell that we were finally getting closer as the water began to turn even darker, nearing pitch-black the more we progressed.

  Finally, after weeks of travel, I had arrived at the northern continent. The landmass was visible to my senses as it extended deep below the water, yet that wasn't what made me certain of its presence. It was the massive barrier that encompassed the entirety of my sight. No matter where I looked, sky or sea, left, right, up, down, the barrier stood prominently, a combination of the elements woven so expertly together that it stood as a testament to the skill of the ones who made it so long ago.

  Perhaps the only thing that could match it in scale was the fact that such protection, despite being so enduring and comprehensive, had been circumvented by mindless monsters, an appellation I was growing skeptical of.

  Of the voranders I could sense, a minority of them were patrolling while the vast majority were in regular positions, watching and waiting, mimicking the actions of border soldiers on the lookout for incursions. An even smaller minority were those who had been recalled from the frontlines. I urged my mount forward, the shelled seal vorander I had tamed following the rest of the crowd along the coast.

  I travelled three days before I noticed snow falling, and yet again, the vorander presence had tainted the environment, turning the snow that was meant to be white into a sickly purple. The water was frozen over in certain patches, icebergs and glaciers visible both close by and in the distance.

  Finally, the crowd turned inland, and I saw the likely reason such a well-crafted barrier could have been ignored by its targets:

  People.

  There were people of all races within the barrier, standing on the edge of the continent as they worked to widen the gap that was present. The barrier still held, but where they were standing, a chunk of it had been scooped out, large enough for anything to enter or exit that fit the size of the river's mouth that ran into the ocean.

  Elves, beastfolk and humans were all present, and even worse, none of them appeared to be controlled by parasites, as they moved naturally and not in the clunky, foreign way that infected people did, as they were getting used to new bodies altogether. They somehow had the capability to use essence within the confines of the barrier, a mystery that was at odds with how I knew large numbers of monsters cause essence voids to form.

  My mount blended in well with the crowd travelling upriver until they reached a large lake, at which point I waited for every other monster to leave the area and waited until the coast was clear until I disembarked and exited my space, tasting what should have been fresh air for the first time in weeks. Instead I was treated to the smell of rotten fruit, noxious and sickly-sweet. I was eager to move on from whatever was causing that smell.

  With a thought, thirty voranders surrounded me, forming a meat shield I could hide behind before I met someone who wouldn't kill me at first sight. My plan was to find the theoretical gap in the world barrier and leave through it, but if I ran into anyone, they got tamed, simple as that. While the presence of humans was...odd, in the end, it only meant more possibilities of being discovered. I could admit that diplomacy was a possible option, but failure carried too high a risk. It was easier if I went alone.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I was on high alert, my senses on the lookout for anything that could be a clue to what I was searching for. My spatial sense especially was working overtime to confirm that there was nothing I had overlooked. There was more life than I thought would be present in what I imagined to be a barren wasteland, though the trees and grasses were dried husks, brittle and frozen. Any native animal life had probably been hunted to extinction seeing as I only saw wild voranders out in the open, though a few hours of wandering let me understand that the only meaningful distinction was predator and prey. Whenever two voranders met, whichever one was strong enough was the one that walked away...or ate it, or ravaged it, depending on its mood at the time.

  The constant scenes of violence served as both distraction and motivation, compelling me to keep being on the lookout. However, it was obvious that this endeavor would take time and not something I could rush through. So despite my anxiety, I returned to my space and prepared to sleep for the night.

  Or at least, that was the plan.

  Not five minutes had passed since I entered my space when all my 'bodyguard' voranders were instantly destroyed. Turned to mush like they were nothing before the newcomer. Even after a few seconds to account for shock, I still couldn't tell what I was looking at. 'Humanoid' seemed to be the best descriptor, as their body seemed mostly human, though they had elven ears and beastfolk-like skin similar to scales. Hairless and clothed in only a simple robe with frayed edges and washed out colors, the being seemed physically powerful, which would usually indicate past training.

  The eyes were what ultimately clinched it for me. Pure black? Those were vorander eyes.

  "Intruder.," it spoke in a raspy, high-pitched voice, unsettling me as it not only knew the human language, but had somehow detected my presence. "I know you are close by, watching and listening. I wish to speak with you." It studied the surroundings, its eyes carefully poring over every inch of the area. "I can appreciate that neither of us in inclined to trust the other, yet I believe you have come here for a reason other than glory, honor, or duty. A single human, penetrating this land's defenses without any slaughter or any attempt to reach out and initiate communications?"

  The thing smiled, its face with patches of scales looked as if it was wearing a skin mask that was too tight. "Your goal must require speed, or stealth. A pity then, that one who has appeared who can end your quest prematurely." Throughout his whole monologue, the thing never stopped searching for me, its body turning this way or that whenever it thought it spotted something. "Whatever conditions you wish to parlay under, I will accede to. Your restraint has not gone unnoticed, and I can submit to any terms you put forth. Otherwise...." he trailed off, though the implication was clear.

  With how eloquent and guarded the thing was, it made me doubt everything I thought I knew about voranders. As much as I wanted to solve the puzzle of the thing's existence, my search took priority.

  I had tried sending out a bolt of pure essence from my space in the past, experimenting to see if I could tame something from the comfort and safety of my space, and it failed to work. The same result occurred here as well, so I accepted the inevitable and stepped onto the cold, hard ground covered in vorander guts and purple snow.

  As soon as I appeared, the vorander-man turned to me and donned his smile once more. "So. I was right."

  "Yes. You were," I said. A moment later, a pulse of pure essence radiates from my hand and encompasses a hundred-foot radius, enough to make contact with the vorander-man and bring him under my control.

  "Oh? Well now, isn't this something?" the being said, very clearly not affected by my pulse. He wasn't using essence at all, and my spatial sense told me he hadn't moved an inch...yet he remained his own person. "I do believe we have much to discuss...that is, if you still wish to leave this planet."

  I had a hard time schooling my expression as he somehow discovered my goal. Shock had been a near constant companion on this little jaunt, yet this moment undoubtedly stood at the top as one of the most shocking. Seeing no other way forward, I decided to just follow through and see what happened.

  "A blood contract," I proposed. "Neither of us may harm the other, either directly or indirectly, and both of us are not permitted to lie, directly or by omission. Also, any interference by a third-party will cause both of us to lose the majority of our lifeforce. Do you accept?"

  "I do," the being responded. I made a cut on my hand, as did he, and we shook on it, the contract taking effect immediately...though I was immune to the harmful effects, my familiarity with blood magic advanced enough to let me do so. We stood like that for a moment before I pulled my hand back, closing the cut on my hand as soon as I could, the being mirroring my action.

  "You may call me Lee," I heard him say.

  "Lee?" That was very much an Earth name.....and it was entirely possible it was the most popular name in other places in the universe as well. Best not to dwell on it.

  "You may call me Shiva," I said, the first name I could think of. While I was wary of giving him my name, as I had knowledge from the Trove that curses and hexes existed that could operate solely on someone's name, his choice to not state his own name, if he even had one, spoke to a higher intelligence, as if that wasn't obvious enough already. After all, he very specifically did not say 'my name is Lee'.

  "Well now, Shiva is it? There's no harm in getting confirmation, so would you tell me why you are here, on this isle?" he asked me.

  "I need to get off this world as soon as possible," I stated entirely truthfully.

  He smirked. "And why is that?"

  "I value my freedom too much."

  "A trait we share in common, it seems," he inclined his head.

  "Are you the leader of the so called 'voranders'?" I asked him point-blank.

  "Hmm...." he hummed. "Yes....and no. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I am their creator, as the one responsible for their existence, though I have largely let them settle their matters by themselves."

  "And these parasites that invade bodies and assume control over them? Are you responsible for those as well?" I asked, the absurdity of it hitting me fully. The voranders had been a menace for hundreds of years. For this man to be alive for that long beggared belief. Then again, nothing was impossible, open mind and all that.

  "Oh, those odd strain of soul leeches? No, I played no part in their recent arrival. The credit, or perhaps fault depending on your perspective, lies with another," Lee replied.

  "Are you acquainted with this person?" I asked him, wondering if perhaps the parasites were created by someone else on the continent, similar to how he created the voranders.

  "Yes, and so are you," he said, throwing me for a loop with his blunt statement. "From what I know, he alone is responsible for any and all foreigners that arrive on this world. It has been many, many years since our last encounter, but I still recall it with clarity." His face grew hard as his fists clenched and his breathing grew sharper. Had he not been speaking, he probably would have broken his teeth from how hard he was clenching them.

  "He called himself Khime."