Morning came with silver light spilling through the strange forest valley.
The glowing trees dimmed as the sun rose, their bark fading back into pale gray while mist drifted low across the ground. The air smelled cleaner here than anywhere Ren had been since the collapse. Fresh water. Grass. Living things.
It should have been peaceful.
But Nevada had a way of making even beauty feel dangerous.
Ren sat beside the dying fire, cleaning sand from the cylinder of his revolver while Cal sketched one of the glowing trees into his notebook nearby.
"You're obsessed," Ren said.
Cal didn't even look up.
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"You drew a cactus for twenty minutes yesterday."
"It was a very interesting cactus."
Ren snorted.
Jonah emerged from the edge of camp a few moments later.
"We move now."
Elise returned from scouting shortly after him, her dark cloak carrying traces of dew from the undergrowth.
"No movement nearby," she reported. "But there are trails everywhere."
"Animal trails?" Mara asked.
Elise shook her head.
"Some."
That answer alone was enough to put everyone on edge again.
They packed camp quickly and continued west through the valley.
The deeper they traveled, the stranger the environment became. The trees grew taller, their branches intertwining high above like a natural ceiling. Vines thicker than a man's torso wrapped around old highway signs and broken buildings overtaken by roots.
Ren spotted movement constantly.
Birds with antlers.
Foxes with glowing eyes.
A long serpent moving through the river whose scales shimmered like polished crystal before disappearing beneath the water again.
Every living thing here carried legends more openly than anywhere else they had traveled.
And unlike the desert…
These creatures looked stable.
Adapted.
Like Nevada had given them room to become what they were turning into.
That thought stayed with Ren as they followed an overgrown road cutting through the valley.
Then Jonah suddenly raised a hand.
Everyone stopped.
Ren rested his hand near his revolver.
"What is it?"
Jonah listened for a moment.
"…Bells."
At first Ren thought he imagined it.
Then he heard them too.
Soft clanging sounds drifting through the trees ahead.
Not metallic alarms.
Animal bells.
Cal frowned.
"Sheep?"
As if answering him, something white moved between the trees.
A sheep stepped onto the road.
Except it wasn't normal.
Thin arcs of electricity danced faintly through its wool.
Ren blinked.
"…Okay."
More followed behind it.
An entire flock emerged from the forest, moving calmly across the road. Their wool glowed softly with blue static, and every few seconds tiny sparks jumped between them.
The air crackled faintly around the flock.
Ren stared.
"Lightning sheep."
Cal looked delighted.
"Lightning sheep."
Then the shepherd appeared.
He stepped from the trees carrying a long wooden staff across his shoulder. He looked to be in his late twenties, maybe early thirties, with dark skin weathered by the sun and calm brown eyes that scanned the group carefully but without fear.
A loose cloak hung around his shoulders, and small charms carved from stone and bone dangled from the staff in his hand.
The flock gathered around him naturally.
Not frightened.
Protected.
The man smiled faintly.
"Well," he said calmly, "you lot look tired."
Ren relaxed slightly but kept his guard up.
"You always walk lightning sheep through monster forests?"
The shepherd chuckled softly.
"Only on weekdays."
Cal laughed immediately.
Ren shook his head.
"Alright. I like him already."
The man rested both hands on the top of his staff.
"Name's Isaac."
"Ren."
The introductions followed quickly.
Isaac listened carefully to each name, nodding politely.
When Jonah introduced himself, Isaac's eyes lingered on him for a second longer than the others.
Recognition.
Or maybe caution.
Hard to tell.
"You're heading west," Isaac said.
"Toward Nevada."
Ren nodded.
"That obvious?"
"You're on the old trade path."
Isaac gestured ahead with his staff.
"There's a settlement a few hours from here. Most travelers stop there before crossing deeper into Nevada."
Mara exchanged a glance with Jonah.
"A safe town?" she asked.
Isaac shrugged slightly.
"Safe enough."
Ren smirked.
"That's the nicest thing anyone's said about a place in months."
Isaac laughed quietly.
"You can travel with me if you want. Easier with more eyes watching the forest."
Jonah studied him carefully.
"You know these woods well?"
Isaac nodded once.
"I grew up near here."
Ren looked down at the sheep again as sparks crackled harmlessly through their wool.
"So what's their deal?"
Isaac glanced back at the flock.
"Legends."
"Yeah, figured that part out."
Isaac smiled faintly.
"Their bloodline adapted after the collapse. They inherited traits connected to storm myths."
Cal crouched beside one of the sheep carefully.
It sniffed his hand before a small spark jumped onto his finger.
Cal grinned.
"I love Nevada already."
Ren pointed toward the sheep.
"One of those bites me and I'm suing somebody."
Isaac laughed again.
The group continued west with the shepherd leading them through the valley paths. The flock moved around him naturally, every sheep staying close without needing commands.
Ren noticed something strange after about an hour.
The animals listened to Isaac almost before he spoke.
A glance from him would shift the flock's direction.
A tap of the staff settled nervous movement instantly.
It was subtle.
But unnatural.
Mara noticed too.
Ren caught her watching Isaac carefully more than once.
The forest thickened as the day passed.
Large ruins appeared more frequently now, swallowed by roots and vines. Old gas stations leaned sideways beneath giant tree limbs. Entire stretches of highway had been split apart by massive root systems.
Then the ground shook.
Once.
Heavy.
Isaac stopped instantly.
The sheep gathered tightly together.
Jonah stepped forward.
"What was that?"
Another tremor rolled through the ground.
Closer.
Ren heard breathing.
Heavy breathing.
Then something emerged from the trees.
The creature was enormous.
At first glance it looked like a cow.
Then Ren saw the rest.
Its body was packed with thick muscle beneath dark fur, and massive curved horns extended from its skull like sharpened stone blades. Its posture sat wrong for a normal animal, too upright through the shoulders, too aggressive.
And behind it…
A faint shape towered above the creature.
Broad shoulders.
A horned head.
Something massive holding an axe.
Cal whispered.
"Minotaur."
The cow creature snorted violently, steam bursting from its nostrils.
Then it charged.
The ground exploded beneath its hooves.
Ren drew instantly.
His legend surged through him.
He fired.
The bullet curved perfectly toward the creature's eye.
The cow jerked sideways unnaturally fast.
The shot grazed its skull instead.
"Move!" Jonah shouted.
Everyone scattered.
The creature slammed through a fallen tree trunk like it weighed nothing.
The lightning sheep panicked briefly, sparks exploding wildly through the flock.
Isaac stepped forward calmly.
Ren blinked.
"…What's he doing?"
The shepherd raised his staff.
The charms hanging from it began to glow softly.
Isaac planted the bottom of the staff against the ground once.
A deep sound rolled outward through the valley.
Not loud.
Heavy.
Ancient.
The charging creature froze.
Its body trembled violently.
Then slowly…
It changed.
The massive muscles shrank.
The monstrous horns softened and curved downward naturally.
The towering outline behind it faded.
Within seconds, an ordinary brown cow stood where the creature had been.
Silence hit the forest.
Ren stared.
"…What."
The cow blinked lazily.
Then wandered toward the flock like nothing had happened.
Cal looked completely stunned.
"Elise," Ren said quietly, "did you see that?"
"Yes."
"Tell me I didn't hallucinate."
"You didn't."
Isaac calmly walked over and patted the cow on its side.
"There we go," he said softly.
The animal mooed harmlessly.
Ren looked at Jonah.
Jonah's eyes had narrowed slightly.
Watching.
Thinking.
But he said nothing.
Isaac turned back toward them.
"Sorry about that," he said casually. "That one gets excitable sometimes."
Ren pointed toward the completely normal cow.
"That thing was a monster five seconds ago."
Isaac shrugged.
"Legends influence temperament."
"That is not an explanation."
Isaac only smiled faintly.
Then he continued walking.
The sheep followed him immediately.
The cow joined the flock peacefully.
Ren stared after him for several seconds before finally speaking.
"…Okay."
Cal adjusted his glasses slowly.
"That man is hiding something."
Mara nodded quietly.
"Yes."
Ren looked at Isaac ahead of them, staff resting across his shoulders as the flock moved calmly around him.
And for the first time since meeting the shepherd…
Ren started wondering what legend could make even monsters obey.