I Can See Evolution Paths

Arthur remained still after asking, "Where are the Beasts?"

Nobody answered. The group looked around.

At first Sun tried to dismiss it. "Maybe we’re just in a quiet section," he said.

Vedas looked around. "We’ve walked through quiet sections before," he said.

Mithra added, "There were always insects."

Athena listened carefully. Nothing. No buzzing. No birds. No distant roars. No movement through the trees. Even the water seemed strangely still.

Arthur looked at Eden. "Can you hear anything?"

Eden shook her head. "Nothing."

Arthur’s expression became more thoughtful.

Athy suddenly took off, flying above the trees and disappearing into the canopy. Everyone waited. A few moments later she returned.

Arthur looked at her. "Anything?"

Athy shook her head. She pointed farther ahead. Then behind them. Then to both sides. Nothing.

Arthur asked, "No Beasts?"

Athy shook her head again.

Vedas frowned. "That’s not normal."

Athy then pointed toward the sky. Arthur looked up. The sky was empty. Not a single flying Beast, which was especially strange because they had seen Cloud Whales, Stormwing Manticores, birds, and other flying creatures almost every day.

Just when everyone began wondering what was happening, a single small bird suddenly burst from the trees. Everyone looked up. It flew directly over them. Arthur watched. The bird didn’t circle. It didn’t land. It didn’t even slow down. It flew away from the deeper Everglades as quickly as possible.

Eden watched it disappear. "Why is it running?"

Arthur looked toward the direction it came from. "That’s what I want to know," he said.

Arthur suggested they investigate the immediate area. They didn’t go deep. They simply searched nearby. The group checked waterways, Beast nests, tree branches, caves, patches of vegetation, familiar hunting areas. But everything was empty. They found abandoned tracks. A half eaten plant. A broken branch. A nest that had clearly been occupied recently. But no Beast.

Arthur crouched beside one of the tracks. "This is fresh," he said.

Vedas looked down. "How fresh?"

Arthur touched the mud. "Very."

Melo examined the area. "Something left in a hurry," she said.

Arthur looked at her. "You can tell?"

Melo nodded. "The tracks are messy." She pointed toward another footprint. "Normally a Beast would place its feet carefully here."

Arthur studied it. She was right. The Beast had been moving quickly.

After searching for a while, Arthur’s group decided to return. As they approached the temporary camp, they noticed something immediately. Other students were also talking about it. Several groups had returned early.

One student said, "Did you notice it too?"

Arthur looked at him. "The missing Beasts?"

The student nodded.

Another said, "Our entire route was empty."

A third said, "We didn’t even see a bird."

Sun looked around. "So it’s not just us."

Athena’s expression became serious. "How large was your exploration area?"

The students pointed toward different sections.

Arthur’s expression changed slightly. They were spread across different directions. Yet they had all experienced the same thing.

Different students described what they found. One group had seen fresh Beast tracks. Another found abandoned nests. Another heard something moving in the water but never saw what it was. Another said the Beasts they had encountered yesterday were completely gone.

Arthur listened. Athena began connecting the information, opening her notebook. "So the Beasts didn’t disappear at one location," she said.

Arthur nodded. "They’re disappearing across the entire region."

Vedas asked, "Could they be migrating?"

Athena shook her head. "Not all of them." She pointed toward her notes. "Different species. Different habitats. Different directions."

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "Then something caused them to leave."

The students brought the information to the professors. Roland’s expression changed when he heard everything. He didn’t immediately dismiss it. Instead he asked, "You’re certain?"

Several students nodded.

Arthur explained what his group had seen. Athy’s scouting. The abandoned nests. The fresh tracks. The bird flying away.

Roland listened carefully.

Another professor asked, "Did anyone see the cause?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Roland didn’t answer immediately. His eyes remained on the forest for several seconds before he finally looked back at the students.

"No one leaves the camp alone."

The students became quiet.

He continued, "Return to the camp for now."

Sun immediately whispered, "That’s the most serious I’ve heard him sound."

Arthur looked toward Roland.

Something about the professor’s reaction told him this wasn’t normal.

...

One of the professors lowered his voice. "If the Beasts are abandoning the region, keeping several hundred students here isn’t worth the risk."

Roland nodded. "Agreed."

Another professor glanced toward the forest. "We don’t know what caused it."

"Exactly," Roland said. "Until we do, we move."

...

The decision spread through the camp.

They were going to relocate the temporary camp.

The professors didn’t want hundreds of students sitting in an area where Beast behavior had suddenly changed.

The students began packing. Eden struggled with carrying something far too large.

Arthur took it from her. "You don’t need to carry that," he said.

Eden pouted. "I can."

Arthur looked at the object, then at Eden. "It’s bigger than you."

Eden looked at it. "Still."

Mithra laughed.

Sun shook his head. "She’s stubborn," he said.

Arthur smiled. "I know."

The expedition moved toward another portion of the outer region, traveling west of the previous exploration area. The professors led the students. Arthur watched the environment.

At first, nothing. Then they started seeing signs. Broken trees. Deep claw marks. Large footprints. Water churned up. A tree with part of its trunk torn away.

Arthur crouched beside a massive footprint. "That’s recent," he said.

Vedas looked at it. "Something large."

Melo examined the surrounding ground. "And it wasn’t walking normally," she said.

Arthur looked at her. "Running?"

She nodded. "Fast."

That raised another question. What was it running from?

As they continued, Arthur suddenly felt something strange. His compass vibrated slightly. He stopped walking.

Vedas noticed. "What?"

Arthur reached into his belongings and pulled out the compass. At first, nothing seemed wrong and then the needle trembled. It spun halfway around the dial before stopping.

Arthur turned the compass in his hand to the side. The needle moved with it and then he rotated it again but once again, the needle followed.

It wasn’t pointing north.

It was pointing somewhere.

Arthur stared at it, remembering how the compass had reacted to unusual places before. He rotated it once more, and the needle followed immediately.

His eyes narrowed. "That’s strange."

Athena noticed. "Your compass?"

Arthur nodded. "It isn’t pointing north."

Athena stepped closer. "Then what is it pointing toward?"

Arthur looked into the forest. "I don’t know."

But he knew exactly where it was pointing. Deeper.

Before Arthur could investigate, another student called out. "Wait!"

Everyone turned. The student was standing beside a narrow opening between the trees. "Was this here before?"

The group approached. There was a narrow path. Not an ancient stone road like the one from before. This was different. A natural looking path through the vegetation, but something had clearly been traveling through it frequently. The vegetation had been pushed aside. The mud was disturbed. There were footprints.

The student pointed. "This isn’t on the map."

Athena immediately checked. Nothing.

Arthur looked at the path, then down at his compass. The compass was pointing directly toward it.

Arthur’s expression changed.

One of the professors immediately stepped forward. "Don’t."

The student stopped. Everyone looked at him. The professor’s tone wasn’t angry. It was serious.

"That area is outside our current exploration route," he said.

Arthur looked at the path. "Is it outside the mapped region?"

The professor hesitated. "It’s close to the boundary."

Arthur asked, "Have you explored it before?"

The professor shakes his head. "That area hasn’t been surveyed."

Arthur looked toward the path. "So nobody knows what’s there?"

The professor’s expression tightened. "That’s exactly why you aren’t going there."

Arthur looked at his compass, still pointing toward the path. Arthur quietly put it away. He didn’t argue and simply nodded.

But then Arthur noticed something.

The wind stopped.

The leaves became still. The students slowly looked around. Even the professors noticed. Nobody said anything.

Arthur’s hand tightened around the compass inside his pocket. The needle was still moving. Still pointing toward the unexplored path.

Arthur looked at the disturbed vegetation, the footprints, and then at the compass in his hand.

"Something has been using this path."

Athena nodded. "Recently."

Arthur looked deeper into the trees. "And whatever it is, it’s moving in the same direction my compass is pointing."

Vedas frowned. "You think the path leads to whatever the compass is detecting?"

Arthur smiled slightly. "I think that’s what we’re about to find out."

Before anyone could respond, all of them shivered in fright.

Then—

BOOOOOOM!

Something exploded deep within the Everglades.

The entire forest shook.

Trees bent violently beneath the shockwave, and water erupted from the surrounding marshes.

Students screamed as the ground rolled beneath their feet.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Roland shouted.

Before anyone could recover—

BOOOOOOM!

A second explosion struck.

The ground beneath Arthur cracked.

"Grab Eden!" Vedas shouted before he was swept away.

Mithra grabbed Melo. Sun grabbed Kong. Athena fell sideways as the ground shook beneath her and Athy rushed toward her.

The ground beneath Arthur suddenly split. "Eden!"

He grabbed her just as a terrifying shockwave smashed into them and then twisted his body, pulling Eden against his chest as they were thrown into the forest.

Arthur reached for something—anything—but the ground kept sliding beneath him. Trees flashed past as mud and leaves filled his vision. He tightened his arms around Eden, refusing to let go even as the world spun around them.

"Arthur!"

Her voice became distant.

Then everything went black.