"Humans?"

That was exactly what Nox saw, a group of humans sitting around what seemed to be a camp fire in the clearing.

Behind them were house like structures which soldified the fact that they were humans even more.

Or maybe it was just an Eclipsed with the ability to disguise itself as humans? Just like Lorenne had?

Though, according to Lorenne, she wasn't exactly Eclipsed, instead, she was something known as a Chimera, a creature Nox had no knowledge on.

As the seconds passed, the more he believed that they were actually humans, but that should've been impossible.

How had they gotten into the Academy's rift and how had they gotten enough time to build settlements, after all, they looked like they had been here for at least a couple of years.

There was also the fact that he couldn't sense an ounce of SE from them, which was raised the question of how they had survived here for this long.

"You're right," Nox muttered, glancing at the pouch on his side, "we should observe them for a while longer."

"I think you should actually come introduce yourself," before he could react, he felt a cold object laying on his neck, "do anything stupid and I slice your throat."

Behind him, with a dagger in hand was a lady Nox hadn't even realized was behind him.

Hell, he didn't even know that his life was in danger until she spoke up, which caused his eyes to widen in shock.

He was tempted to teleport away but immediately discarded that idea when he heard her next words.

"And I can sense your SE moving, which is the only reason why you're not dead right now," She added, "but if you want to find out whether your SE channels are faster than my hand, then you're welcome to try."

Seeing that his SE was only passively flowing, she slowly grabbed his arms with her free hand and with a not so gentle movement, yanked it backwards.

Nox didn't actually feel any pain from the action, due to the fact he had experienced far worse.

But after restraining him, she did the unthinkable, kicked him down a 20 meters tall tree like a sack of potatoes.

There was a deadpan expression on his face as he quickly descended before her sighed, let his SE run through him and disappeared, reappearing on the forest floor.

He could've taken the chance to escape, but he wouldn't, after all, even he was curious about these humans and how they got into the rift.

Maybe he could finally find a way out of this hell hole or just end up dead if this turns out to be some kind of illusion.

"The boots," the lady jumped down the tree with her hand outstretched, "now."

Nox finally had a good look at her and from his perspective, she looked.... petite?

The lady had black hair, green eyes and a tanned skin.

She had on what seemed like a sports bra, revealing most of the scars that hung over her abs.

She also wore black combat pants, on which she strapped what seemed like a gun and the dagger that was previously pressed against his neck.

She had on gloves and boots which Nox, wasn't going to lie, looked pretty cool. One both her arms were also the tattoos of eastern dragons coiling around them.

"Yeah....no," Nox refused, "these are my only way of getting away safely if you guys turn out to be Eclipsed in disguise."

She looked at him as if he lacked a brain, but just ended up sighing and saying, "fine, but you better not try anything funny, else you wouldn't know when you lost your head."

That wasn't a threat and from how silently she had close to him, he doubted he would notice if she decided to follow through with her words.

"I'm the one tied up," he pointed out, giving her a view of his tightly bound arms, "I should be the one to worry about whether or not you decide to slit my throat."

She stared at him for a long second before she then snorted softly.

"You're calm for someone who just got caught spying."

"Hard to be nervous after living a month in here," Nox replied honestly.

She looked at him for a while longer, seriously contemplating whether his words were true or not.

"Walk," she said, clipping a cord to the bindings and tugging them forward. "Slowly."

She kept close behind him, her hand never leaving her side, where the dagger was resting, in case he actually did try something.

"By the way," Nox suddenly spoke up as they moved out of the gathering of trees, "how are you using solar tech without SE."

He received no answer so he just shut up and continued forward.

The two soon reached the clearing, and every one's eyes immediately snapped towards them.

They looked at the lady and the restrained Nox with a small frown on their faces, one of the men soon approached and asked,

"Who is he?"

"That's what's I'm also trying to find out," she said before turning to the forming crowd before adding, "he says he has been surviving the forest for a month now."

"How are you alive?" someone whispered.

"More importantly," an older woman near the fire said, her voice steady and calm, "how did you get past the Eclipsed filled forest alone?"

Nox looked at the crowd, then at the old woman, for a second before he then shrugged.

"I walked."

That earned him a few incredulous stares and one quiet laugh, this one from the old woman.

The woman who had captured him finally cut the bindings on his wrists. It was an act done out of complete confidence, after all, she knew exactly how fast she could kill him if he tried anything.

"You're in Emberhold," the old woman said. "A closed settlement."

"Inside a rift," Nox added, a small frown on his face.

"About that," the old woman smiled , "how about you take a shower and rest first? You seem exhausted."

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