Gideon stumbled backwards, almost falling over.


    “What is it?” Bullseye asked.


    “Dunno. A big eye.”


    He stepped forward again, finding that the big eye had shifted and now two eyes were looking up at him.


    “It’s some kind of creature.”


    “Creature? I was unaware that this moon harbored any native forms of life.”


    “Can’t be native. Maybe the Stalkers brought it here? Or it was in the ship we crashed on. Maybe one of the crew brought it back from Artemis?”


    “Retrieving animals of any kind from Artemis is strictly forbidden. Besides, the fauna on that world do not survive when they are taken out of range of the crystals that feature across the planet’s surface. I suggest your first guess is accurate. The Stalkers must have brought this creature with them, therefore I would suggest caution in dealing with it.”


    Something moved down in the hole and a thin blue hand reached up and touched the rocky surface.


    “Oh, shit! It’s moving.”


    “Be careful, Gideon. It could be a living bomb or perhaps some fearsome warrior.”


    The creature that emerged from the hole stood only a few feet high, was covered in short blue fur, and boasted bulbous eyes, pointed, fluffy ears, and a long tail that split at the rear and forked into two separate ends. A small mouth sat beneath the two round holes that served as nostrils and its thin body seemed to radiate a faint glow of ether.


    “Yeah, I don’t think it’s a weapon,” Gideon said. “I don’t know what it is, but the little guy is cute as hell and he’s just standing here looking at me.”


    “He?”


    “Looks like it’s a he, but it could be a she, or something else. Doesn’t look like he’s gonna attack though.”


    “What is the beast doing?”


    “Just standing there looking at me with its head to the side. Kind of looks like a dog that doesn’t understand what I’m saying.”


    Giddeon bent down to his knees, trying to make himself as unthreatening as possible.


    “Hey there little guy. You speak English?”


    It was a stupid question, but he didn’t know what else to say. The little creature didn’t say anything, but it stepped closer, reaching out one little hand toward Gideon.


    He reached out his own hand and energy sparked between his fingers and the creatures. While he was squatting there he watched as his entire store of ether was drained in an instant. The creature started to glow with bright blue light. It lasted a few moments before he returned to his usual color.


    “Wow. Okay, that was weird.”


    “What is it? Did the beast attack?”


    “No it just…”


    Still holding its hand an inch from Gideon’s, the little creature moved forward a few steps and power once more sparked between them. This time ether poured from the alien creature into Gideon’s body, increasing to thirty thousand units in a second flat before the exchange was completed.


    “Holy Shit!” Gideon blurted. “This little guy’s an ether machine. Works like an ether bank or something. Hell, maybe he generates the stuff?”


    WARNING: You have just received ether from a non-recognized source which exists outside of the Artemis System’s records. As such you have violated Ministry statutes. Your ether debt has increased to 100,000 units and must be paid immediately or you will be expelled from the Great Hunt and imprisoned for the remainder of your life.


    “Intriguing,” Bullseye said. “It seems the ether you received from this mysterious creature is not the same as that which you harvested from the Stalkers.”


    “Okay, so what do I do with this little guy? Do I try and bring him back with me?”


    “Chief Maddox concurs. Bring the creature back to the station and we will meet you at the airlock.”


    “Got it,” Giddeon replied, turning his attention back to the strange etherically charged creature. “Okay, little man, you wanna come with me?”


    The creature said nothing, staring up at Gideon with large blue eyes, the corners of its mouth tilted up a little as though it were smiling. It seemed perfectly content, but Gideon had no way of knowing if it could understand anything he was saying or whether this peaceful facial expression meant something completely different.


    He pointed off toward the station. “Gotta go that way,” he said, miming walking with his fingers. “I need you to come with me. You’ll be safe. I won’t let those Stalkers hurt you.”


    The creature looked up at him blankly, still wearing that almost smile but showing no signs of either agreement or refusal. Gideon took a few steps and found, to his surprise, that the little creature followed after, staying a few paces behind him. He continued, moving towards the ramp that had led up to the surface of the large flat rock and the creature likewise followed.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    “Okay,” Gideon said. “That’ll work.”


    He didn’t want to risk running and outpacing his new companion, so he had to walk slowly back towards the station, turning around every few seconds to check that the alien creature was following him.


    “You got a name, little guy?” Gideon asked, not expecting a reply.


    He turned back to see the curious creature padding along on the surface of the moon, his footsteps barely raising puffs of dust as he shuffled along. The creature reminded Gideon a little of a meercat, the way it held itself, as though it wasn’t supposed to be standing on two legs but was doing it anyway.


    Where this creature differed from meercats was in its bulbous blue eyes, the vivid blue fur and the twin tails. Considering those differences, Gideon supposed it looked nothing like a meercat, but there was still something about the way it held itself whenever he turned back to check that it was following. Perhaps it was the somewhat baffled look in its eyes, or the way it held its arms down by its side like a child waiting in line to get into class.


    “I’m gonna call you Blue,” he offered as they slowly moved their way back to the transit station.


    “Why blue?” Bullseye asked.


    “Because it’s covered in blue fur, and it’s got big blue eyes.”


    “Not the most sophisticated name, but it will serve I suppose.”


    “Well, maybe if you can figure out how to communicate with it we can find out its real name. Until then, I’m calling him blue.”


    “And you’re still convinced it is a male of its species.”


    “No. I just… I guess it makes it easier to think of him as a little guy. Not sure why.”


    “Familiarity would be my guess,” Bullseye suggested. “You see a young male creature because you most easily identify with that given that you are yourself male. If Mia had discovered the creature, perhaps she would have considered it female.”


    “Yeah, okay Freud, whatever. We’re about five minutes out, I guess. I don’t wanna move to quick because…”


    Gideon felt that familiar sensation again, the shift in pressure, the tingling on the back of his neck.


    “Hang on. I think…”


    Two shapes emerged out of nothing, firing arrows that shot at speed toward Gideon as he ran back towards Blue. An arrow thudded into the back of his shoulder and a burst of blinding pain shot through his arm.


    As he reached Blue, the little creature shifted forward at impossible speed, jumping five feet backwards and out of reach as he tried to scoop the creature up into his arms.


    “Shit!”


    “What is it?” Bullseye asked.


    “Nothing, I’ll tell you when we get back.”


    The two Phantoms appeared again, firing a pair of arrows which narrowly missed Gideon as he rolled out of the way and tried again to reach Blue. Once more the little creature moved too fast and managed to stay at least a few feet out of reach.


    Gideon spun around, ripping the arrow from his shoulder and wincing in pain as the two Phantoms appeared once more. He triggered Phantom Step and Dark Rejuvenation at the same time, slipping through the intervening space to appear behind one of the Stalkers and driving his twin talons up into the creature’s back.


    It screamed a silent scream as he withdrew the blades and jammed them back at the base of the alien’s neck, finishing the enemy just as the second Phantom appeared, lashing out with a thin blade that narrowly missed Gideon and drove deep into the other Stalker’s chest.


    Gideon pushed both bodies away slamming his talons together and sending out a percussive blast that stunned the sword wielding Phantom. He then used the time to charge in and drive his talons home, lifting the Phantom off the ground and then slamming it down hard as blood sprayed from the wounds in rivers of individual droplets.


    Both Phantoms were dead, and Gideon looked around, leaning on his stealth sense to determine if any others were nearby. The area felt clear and, as he turned back to look for Blue, he found the little creature standing meercat-like a short distance away, still wearing that strange, contented expression.


    Two balls of purple ether appeared above the dead bodies, but instead of being drawn into Gideon’s echo, the orbs moved quickly toward Blue and vanished on making contact with the creature. Gideon frowned, somewhat perturbed at the fact, and making a mental note not to take Blue out on any future missions unless he wanted the little bastard to gobble up all the ether.


    ITEMS LOOTED


    Phantom Blade +1


    Stalker Oil +2


    Stalker Hide Scraps +2


    Stealth Sense +1


    Dodge +1


    Leadership +1


    Diplomacy +1


    Before moving off again, Gideon examined the Phantom blade, calling the weapon into his hands and looking it over. So far he’d encountered a few different varieties of Phantoms and it seemed that, unlike the other Stalker classes, their weapons were unique, or at least tailored to some degree.


    The blade he held was long and thin, but thicker at the base than a samurai sword. It also had strange markings scratched into the hilt and lower sections of the blade, and while most of the other Stalker weapons were chitinous black, this had a faint bluish tinge to it and boasted a single strip of sky blue running from its tip to the hilt of the weapon.


    PHANTOM BLADE


    +10% stealth to the wielder


    +5% crit chance


    +10 Harrow honor gain


    “Honor gain?” Gideon mused. “Bullseye, you seeing this?”


    “Yes. I would suggest that honor is a currency the Stalkers use internally to foster high performance. Perhaps it is part of a reward system or simply a means of differentiating more capable soldiers from lesser?”


    Gideon nodded, dropping the sword into his inventory and turning to confirm how far they were from the station. As he was looking over at the lunar base, Gideon felt something soft in his hand. Moving slowly so as not to spook the little guy, he turned to see Blue standing by his side.


    The alien creature was staring straight ahead at the lunar station but stood with its hand in Gideon’s like a child preparing to cross the road with its father’s guidance. It was a profoundly strange moment, but Gideon went with it, walking off toward the station with Blue by his side.


    “Good news is the sigil worked,” he said.


    “Excellent,” Bullseye confirmed. “I have passed the news on to Chief Maddox. We are already half way through completing the second sigil and should have the third done in more than enough time for your confrontation with the Harrow Lord.”


    Gideon considered that. With all the excitement of testing out the environment sigil, killing off a bunch of Stalkers and finding Blue, he’d forgotten about the looming fight that was rapidly approaching.


    He checked his mini map, noting that the Ashen Harrow was standing exactly where it had been when he’d left the station. The figure was still ringed by a crimson death halo, menacing even from a distance and when seen in the mini map.


    Gideon noted that he hadn’t picked up either of the Phantoms on the map. He wondered whether the same thing held true for him when he was moving with stealth. Did the Stalkers have some kind of mini map situation? And, if so, was he invisible to that technology while he was cloaked?


    Given the lengthy run he’d successfully completed getting to the final Strider, he guessed the answer to that question was yes.


    As he approached the airlock, Gideon caught sight of Maddox and Bullseye on the other side of the window in the chamber door. He walked into the airlock with Blue still by his side and still holding his hand like a child.


    The little creature seemed undaunted as they walked into the station together. It still held Gideon’s hand and wore the same faint smile as Maddox and Bullseye considered the little creature. There were also three guards with guns standing in the room, eyeing Blue with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.


    “What on earth did you do?”


    Gideon turned to see Mia standing in the doorway, looking a little sleepy and grinning as she stared at his new companion.


    “Found a friend,” he offered with a smile.