The sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air was muffled by the headsets Lucian and Annabelle were wearing. He looked out of the window to his right. Mountains and forest sprawled out across the landscape in the middle distance.

  “We are approaching the landing zone.” One of the pilots spoke over the headset radio. The helicopter began to descend towards a collection of small rectangular buildings, the kind of portable cabins you might find on a building site. There were multiple smaller ones, and a couple larger ones Lucian assumed were for storage and important facilities.

  The grass beneath the helicopter swayed away in circles as it descended further and then touched down, the blades slowing as the engine began to power down.

  Lucian and Annabelle disembarked once it was safe to do so, taking their bags with them. Director Stevenson was waiting for them not far from the helicopter, “Welcome.”

  “Glad to be here.” Annabelle replied, stretching a bit.

  “Likewise. You got this all set up pretty quickly, huh?” Lucian looked around at the modular buildings set up.

  “As quickly as we could.” Stevenson nodded, “Come, I’ll show the two of you to your lodgings.” He led them to one of the portable cabins, “Here you are. You’re welcome to get comfortable, or not. As soon as you’re ready, we can send you two off.”

  Lucian and Annabelle looked at one another, then brought their things into their new residence, before rejoining Stevenson outside.

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  “I think we would both like to just get right into it.” Lucian said.

  “Pretty much.” Annabelle added, “I assume you’ve got our supplies?”

  “Indeed I do. Well, not me, they’re in the storage building.” Stevenson smiled, “High end camping and survival supplies, as well as rations, and communication equipment.” He nodded towards one of the larger buildings, “How about a couple of days for your first expedition? You can contact us when you want to be pulled out and we’ll send a chopper.

  “Alright. Do you want us to just walk into the woods? Or will we be dropped somewhere?” Lucian asked, glancing back at the helicopter.

  “We’ll drop you off. You’ll be checking out an area on the western edge of the mountains, but a bit further north than we are right now.” Stevenson gestured.

  The pair fetched a military looking bag from the storage building which contained their supplies, and headed off to the helicopter, stepping up into it again before the blades began to turn.

  It took about 40 minutes for them to reach their destination, and another few to find a clear area to touch down in.

  As they stepped onto the grass, Lucian cracked his neck and summoned his weapon, the glowing handle settling comfortably in his hand.

  “Shall we get this show on the road?” Annabelle asked, scanning the tree line.

  “Yeah, let's.” Lucian grinned, and the pair made their way into the forest, the mountains rising past the trees in the distance promised adventure.

  For Lucian and Annabelle, the next step in their journey was finally beginning properly.

  …

  Deep within the newly risen mountains, far from the prying eyes of Lucian or Annabelle, or anyone else for that matter, something stirred beneath the earth.

  It was awake, and it was hungry.

  For now, it could do nothing but wait. But it knew it wouldn’t be confined forever.

  And so it waited - its hunger growing in the dark.