Monday - October 22nd, 2121:

  A hollow croak thundered, and I jumped abruptly, nearly striking the back of my helmet against the rocky shelter. My eyes darted from the outcrop to the vast wilderness surrounding it to my SmartScreen. 'Monday...?' The unsettling disconnect between mind and matter jabbed into me as the sound struck again, stabbing into my muddled state.

  I stepped out slowly, careful not to alarm any rogue beast lurking in the shadows beyond my perception. It called to me again, softening like a lover's whisper as it tapped against the stone behind me. Chills ran down my spine as the realization struck; it was behind me, something I should have known. No matter how the wind carried its voice, the area before me was too open for it to hide in plain sight. I pivoted, shifting my weight and turning my body defensively toward the stony outcrop.

  It stared at me. And I stared back.

  The creature perched atop the stone, its feathers shimmering with a dull glow that cast a narrow light around its body. Its rubied gemstone eyes broke contact, and the snow-white raven tapped against its gem-encrusted wings, preening the feathers, unbothered by my presence.

  Instinctively, I stepped back. The moment I did, it turned its eyes toward me—those unblinking pools of red that stared into the depths of my being, seeing through me with intellect and unconcealed disregard.

  My thoughts raced with implications: 'Should I flee? Attack? Surrender to fate? The raven didn't seem hostile, but would it continue as such?' In my ruminations, I failed to realize I had stepped back once more, and the raven spread its wings wide, the gem-tipped feathers shining as it tilted its head, gazing deeply into my visor.

  Before I could react to the shift, it flapped its wings and flew toward me. I raised my hands instinctively to defend myself, but the beast dodged past them and landed atop my arm. It placed its head close to my own and croaked.

  I wasn't sure whether the bird was trying to be soft-voiced or whether my heart slamming against my chest was dulling its noise. What I did know was that it was no mindless beast. One thing my mother always used to tell me was that "the eyes were a window to the soul." And this bird's eyes had a depth I'd never felt before as if nothing could escape their gaze.

  It left as quickly as it came, its wings flapping as it circled overhead with an ever-vigilant stare down at me. My frantic heart didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved.

  While my confusion rampaged, the raven gurgled a long croak as a thundering sound crackled through the area, approaching my location at an unnatural speed. Immediately, I felt an uneasiness in my stomach as it churned, dryness coating my throat.

  Before I could even think of a logical deduction, a rotund, bulbous abomination broke into the open space surrounding me. It resembled a brambly bush with a pig's snout and thorny feelers sprouting off its head. It snarled and squealed, baring its tusked teeth as another creature pounced at it from behind.

  The second creature was grotesque. It had a long bark-covered neck with jutting spikes rolling down its spine. Its eyes were hollow pools of black that sat on its flat face. Spindly legs skittered hastily like a frantic centipede as it rushed forward and lashed out, whipping its long neck and twining it around the brambly pig's body, halting its furious steps in its tracks.

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  Squeals erupted with an increased intensity. The long-necked creature squeezed and clenched, causing the brambly pig to shrivel. Its size halved as the plant-like elements condensed into themselves as a defense mechanism. But it was ineffective. The long-necked creature's bark-like flesh split open, causing a powder to surround the pig, before a long tendril outstretched from its lower region, blossoming with veinous filaments that encroached upon the pig, slithering in through the cracks.

  My stomach violently roiled as bile fought to erupt. I stepped back, my foot crunching against the dried-out leaves piled to the side, alerting the beast that snapped its hollow eyes toward me.

  Run! Run, you damned bastard! A voice in my head screamed, urging my steps to slam against the dry soil.

  Overhead, I could hear the raven's wings flapping in response to the creature's snarling hiss. The ground quaked as the long-necked aberration rushed in my direction with the brambly pig still in its grasp.

  'God!' I could barely hear the muffled hiss through the hammering in my chest. The weight of my spacesuit mounted on my shoulders, but I could not dream of worrying about it when a frenzied beast wanted to take its mating frustrations out on me.

  As the beast neared, the raven's croak sounded in front of me, causing me to turn toward it for a momentary glance. Its eyes shifted from me, turning northeast, and as if it was speaking to me, I followed it.

  'You're mad!' My thoughts swirled like a tempest of uncertainty, but it felt right! The raven had countless opportunities to be a threat, but compared to the twisted aberrations plaguing this place, it was the most unmolested normalcy I could see. It didn't betray my questionable trust as it brought me to a thicket of expansive trees wide enough to barely squeeze through and create space away from the frenzied creature.

  It slammed against the thick trees, howling with a crazed desperation that shook the surroundings.

  In my moment of distraction, an unruly root snagged on my foot, causing me to topple and roll onto my back in an awkward display. The thudding sound of my body flattening and my heart hammering against my chest paired perfectly with the banging of the creature's bark-covered limbs against the barrier of trees. I stared at it, and its hollow eyes stared back. I wasn't sure if it felt my gaze through the visor, but the creature's eyes locked onto mine, and its neck began trembling.

  The bark began to crack as tongue-like tendrils extended out of it, gliding against the line of trees and aiming toward me.

  I lurched backward as one of them swept toward me. It grazed against my leg, slipping off before it could connect. The raven gurgled the loudest croak I had heard until that point, swooping down and pecking at the outstretched tendrils.

  The two beasts devolved into a freakish brawl of animalistic sounds and violent movements. Green liquids splattered across the trees, and the tendrils retracted, defending against the raven's agile strikes. It was surreal, exciting, terrifying, and incredible all at once. Disbelief coursed through me as the raven flew through the gaps in the trees, dodging the tendrils, clawing and pecking at the long-necked beast's body and not giving it a chance to fight back.

  Before long, the monstrosity gave up. It hissed, eyes glazed with a hollowed bloodlust directed at the raven. Once satisfied, it skittered off, dragging the still-paralyzed pig creature alongside. Green blood dripped onto the soil from the wounds inflicted by the raven, leaving a clear trail as it moved out of view.

  I felt bliss—unlike any other. The soil felt so comfortable as I flattened onto it, breathing sighs of relief.

  The raven landed nearby, shifting between preening its feathers to gazing at me. I lifted my torso, forcing out a single word before laying flat again. "Thanks."

  A deep, hollow croak sounded as if it understood my thanks, and the raven returned to preening its feathers, unbothered by my presence on the ground.

  'This place is mad.' I thought.

  You're the one that's mad.