Inside the tent, the silence was different.
It wasn't the apocalyptic silence of a newly devastated battlefield, nor the supernatural silence of explosions of magical power. It was an intimate. Charged.
The skins were badly stitched, smelling of dried blood and the dust of war. But in there, between hanging cloths and small embers crackling in a makeshift brazier, Seth and Bastet were sitting side by side - too tired to speak up, too alive to ignore it.
Seth, bare-chested, the makeshift bandages stuck into cuts that looked like they had been made by dimensional saws, stared at the bottom of the bowl of water. He saw his reflection... and didn't recognize his face. The dark circles under his eyes, the unshaven face, the eyes that no longer sparkled as they used to.
Bastet, curled up on the floor like a feline shadow, was licking one of her paws. The blood she had drawn was still steaming slightly.
She looked up, and her voice cut through the silence.
"You scream a lot when you're dying," she said with a slightly debauched purr.
Seth let out a tired sigh, without smiling. "And you're good at making drama when you save the day. Are you going to say that you waited all that time just to make yourself look cooler?"
"Obviously not. I was trying to take control of the body, but it was strong." Bastet laid her head on her crossed legs. "If I were you, I'd stop shouting your blows and kill it mercilessly. You could have used the lightning several times during the fight to reappear at the front and strike with those axes. You didn't use your skills, were you testing your limits?"
There was a brief silence, but not an uncomfortable one. A silence between two people who had already survived too long to need small talk.
Seth finally spoke. "I know, I'm thinking too much about these fights... But it's what I can do, I won't always know what to do. Remember, it's only been a short time since I became a Hunter." he said
That was an irrefutable truth. Despite the strength he had acquired... Seth actually had almost no fighting experience. Although the "End" skill helped, he didn't have that much experience and forgetting some skills is common, especially when you acquire a new skill every hour.
"Do you think... there's any way back?" He murmured at last, it was what he wanted. Even more afraid of Connie and Vixen, and of course, he was missing the feeling of having a family again. Something he wouldn't admit out loud.
"To that world? Probably," Bastet murmured without opening her eyes.
"I hope so." She was silent for a while longer. The fire crackled next to them.
"I think I'd better ask that Orc Queen or whatever... I sense something strange coming from her." she hesitated, then added "...She doesn't smell like an Orc"
Seth looked up at the roof of the tent, as if he could see the sky through the canvas.
"I don't care what she is... I just miss the little things, you know? Car noise. Rain. People shouting on their cell phones in the street. The world was shit, but it was... human. I don't care much about this world." He muttered, knowing that beyond the Portals, Pandora's existence was concrete, meant many things.
"Humans are good at missing even what they used to hate," said Bastet, sitting down, her body gradually taking on a more upright form, while remaining feline. "Did you know that when the Egyptians worshipped cats, they asked similar questions: 'How to get back home', 'How to escape war'. The answer was always the same."
"And what is that?"
"You don't come back. You take home with you."
'So you're from Egypt... was it really a coincidence that I named you Bastet?...' He looked at her, a little surprised at the sincerity of her answer. At the warmth there.
She continued, looking straight into his eyes:
"This isn't just a mission anymore, Seth. You know that. This world is falling apart, and now you just have to find the door to the next stage, that's all."
"That's boring, I wanted to rest," he muttered.
"Nobody asked for this, but what the hell? Now that you're here. I'm here. Let's just focus, okay?" She said, moving closer and lying down next to Seth.
Silence again. Just the sound of the fire.
Seth ran a hand through his hair, exhausted. "I hope to be back soon, that's all." He murmured.
A few seconds passed in that soft silence, only the crackle of the fire filling the space like a soft breath.
Then a thick, familiar voice echoed from outside the tent... "Seth? Are you awake, you bastard?"
It was Gor'Magh. Even from outside, the orc's voice seemed to shake the canvas as if it were made of thin paper.
Seth crawled to the opening of the tent, pulling the fabric apart with a bloody, tired hand. "What now, Gor? If it's another freak, I'll throw myself on the ground and let them take me."
Outside, the huge orc, his face still partially covered in dust and dried blood, scratched his head with one of his giant hands.
"No... this time it's stranger. Urog-... The Boss... she asked to see you. Now. In her personal tent."
Seth arched an eyebrow. "Ah. Of course. After the apocalypse, VIP invitation from the Orc Queen. Natural."
Bastet, still lying with her eyes almost closed, growled softly. A guttural, suspicious sound. "I don't like that. Her smell is weird. There's something... wrong with her. Like there's something inside, something that doesn't belong in this world."
Seth took a deep breath. He felt the same way, but he couldn't refuse. Something inside him told him that this wasn't an invitation. It was a new milestone.
He stood up slowly, picked up one of the axes and strapped it to his back, just in case. He turned to Bastet, who was now staring at him with half-closed eyes.
"Stay here. Anything... you already know what to do."
"Kill everything?"
"Exactly."
Bastet snorted, crossing her paws with feline elegance. "If she tries anything strange, shout. Or think out loud. I'll listen."
Seth nodded and left the tent, the torchlight burning golden in the hastily rebuilt camp. Wounded warriors slept or celebrated quietly. The sky was heavy, still red from the magic smoke that wouldn't dissipate. The world had not returned to normal, and perhaps it never would.
He followed Gor'Magh between the larger tents to a structure made of bones and thick dark leather cloths - Urog's tent. Well... it was without any kind of protection. Guards with spears? Nothing. It really was a place completely like the others. Strange, even...
"I brought him," Gor'Magh said loudly, "Yes, thank you. Go take a bath." She spoke from inside, "Come in." She ordered and Seth felt something strange...
[Mission... surprise...]
"N-no... please... don't tell me that..." He murmured very quietly, almost inaudibly, but when he passed through the curtain...
But it was too late.
He pushed back the fabric of the doorway and stepped into the gloom.
The heat was the first to hit him. Not ordinary heat, but something almost alive, as if the tent itself was breathing in steam and velvet. The air was impregnated with incense and something else... sweet, instinctive.
The light came from several small bluish flames, floating in the air like spirits. Downy furs lined the floor. Pillows were scattered around a large bed, fashioned from black wood carved with symbols from ancient times.
And there, in the center of the bed... was her.
Kerissa. Or Urog. Or whatever that entity was now.
Her body, completely naked, was reclining languidly. Her skin glistened as if it had been bathed in oil and moonlight. Her hair was spread over crimson pillows, her legs were spread without shame, without modesty - but also without vulgarity. There was purpose there. There was power.
Her eyes were locked on his - two pale, hypnotic suns.
"You're a very good male," she said, her voice lower and closer than seemed possible. "I'd love to test your qualities."
Seth remained motionless, his breath short, his gaze caught between desire, confusion and fear.
He didn't know if it was a trap, a ritual, a spiritual ordeal... or all this woman just wanted to get laid.
[Spend a night with Orc Leader 'Kerissa Urog']
[Reward: ...Do you need a better reward than that?...]
'WHAT KIND OF REWARD IS THAT?!' Seth wanted to scream but before he knew it, the beautiful, perfect, wonderful woman was already embracing him with her naked body.
"Hm... I smell like an alpha male..." She said as she ran her hand under his dirty shirt... "I wonder what we have here..."
...
"Oh... you're already hard, huh?... ready to shoot." She murmured as she knelt down.