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Chapter 3
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The wind carried with it a particularly sour odor as if emanating from the bowels of hell itself. The pain in Kevin's abdomen grew with each move he made. His dressings, once white and clean were now a deep, rich crimson. He didn't mind the pain. It was as if a trusted friend. If you can feel the pain, he reasoned, you're still alive. The strain of maneuvering through the thick jungle foliage amplified his burden. Forced at last to abandon his pack, Kevin began to realize that all of this seemed familiar. Every tree, every path, every sound rekindled an eerie sense of Déjà vu. The smell of sulfur was almost unbearable now. Pungent as it was, Kevin was felt enticed to pursue it. A foreboding rumble echoed all around him. Was it a simple clap of thunder or something more?
Kevin's instinct heavily suggested that he hasten his pace. What was this overriding compulsion that drove his intuition to this end. The jungle seemed to be more oppressive now as if some living creature was trying to inhibit his progress. A thickening fog clouded his vision creating the impression of an almost alien landscape. Kevin pressed forward relentlessly, determined not to be distracted by this almost unearthly abberation. Suddenly the Earth seemed to disappear from beneath him. Kevin instinctively went into a roll. His training had conditioned him for such eventualities. Coming to a rest upon his feet, Kevin crouched in a defensive posture, ready for what might assail him. The fog that had shrouded his vision now began to evaporate. Looking about, Kevin realized to his horror that he was standing in the midst of a field laden with bodies stacked as if cord wood. The fog of his mind lifted much as the fog about his had. The gut wrenching realization of that which had been nagging him for so long was made manifest. As if possessed Kevin began to search among the bodies for any evidence of life. As he did, a familiar insignia caught his attention. Rushing forward, Kevin blurts out a name. A name he had not spoken in many years. Without hesitation, he reached forward and grasped the shoulder of his fallen comrade. Anticipation swelled deep within Kevin's heart. Speaking the name once more, Kevin gently rolled his friend's body over. Fate could not have dealt a crueler hand. Even the worst machinations of the devil king himself could not compare. Kevin was overcome with the desire to heave…he could not prevent it. Everything ceased at that instant. For lying before him, bloody and broken was the body of Fam. Decay had rendered her almost unrecognizable. It was at that moment Kevin realized that the bodies surrounding him was those of his friends and companions. Overwhelmed, Kevin cuts loose with a scream so primal in nature, it shook the very rafters of heaven.
An unfamiliar voice called to him from the depths of his despair. Calm and reassuring it woke Kevin from his self imposed stupor. To his surprise he found himself lying upon a cot in an unfamiliar room. Staring down at him was none other than Dr. Tofu.
"Sir, you must remain calm, otherwise your wounds will reopen.", Tofu directed.
"Where am I?!? Where is Fam?!? My friends…are they ok?!?", Kevin queried frantic and upset, the tears streaming down his face.
"You are aboard the Crusade en route to Crystannia.", Tofu replied trying desperately to ease Kevin's mind "Your friends are either fine or recuperating. This
'Fam' you ask for…does she have a blonde tail and elfin ears?"
"Yes! Dearest God, Yes!", Kevin answered anxious of her condition.
Smiling, Tofu informed Kevin that Fam was just fine and was with her friend in the galley. He said that he would let her know he was awake and asking for her. With this, Kevin breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed allowing the doctor to finally change his bandages.
Scott leaned against the cold, unyielding surface quietly. He stared uncomfortably out into the rain soaked forest just beyond the entrance to the shelter. The heavens had opened into a torrent mere moments after he had departed the warm environs of the temple. It was most fortuitous that he had discovered this place before being completely drowned.
Was someone trying to tell him something?
Scott shrugged off the mere thought as he contemplated other, pressing matters. Such as the acquisition of food and other necessities.
It all seemed so far away now. The strange portal that brought all of them to this place. The discovery of certain unusual abilities ( even now he was discovering that they were much more than previously thought; a fact that Irhlie had either not known or was afraid to mention ). The savage attack now more than a day old. What he wouldn't give to be home now, listening to good music or reading a good book.
The soft sound of a voice from behind jarred him back to the present reality. Scott looked to the source.
Upon the soft earth, as comfortable as was possible given the current situation, lay the sleeping form of Belldandy. She had decided, rather surprisingly, to accompany Scott on his journey to locate his friends. Something about he being new to this place and needing a guide.
Scott had tried to persuade Bell to remain behind, the image of Meryl being gutted like a fish fresh in his mind. She adamantly refused( well, as adamant as Bell allowed herself to be ). It was the reason Scott had tried to leave before she would awake. To his surprise, Bell had reasoned Scott would attempt such a pedestrian manuever and was patiently awaiting him at the temple gateway.
Scott watched her for a moment. She seemed so peaceful as she rested. Hardly the image Scott knew the last two nights. Whatever happened a year ago must had been very troubling to her. Troubling enough to invade her sleep relentlessly, without pity or remorse.
Scott understood the pain himself, though not in the same manner.
He turned back. The rain was being to abate. They could be leaving soon. The thought of leaving Bell behind entered Scott's conciousness. It would be safer, his mind reasoned, to keep her out of this. True, she was a Goddess first class...but what if those creatures were more than even she could defend against?
NO! Scott thought to himself. That would be rude to just leave like that now. Besides, Bell had proven to be a welcome diversion from the solitude. Whatever her reasons for coming along, Scott couldn't just abandon her like that. Funny, why did he suddenly feel like Icarus?
" Scott..."
Belldandy had quietly awoken and now stood just to side of the young man who had fallen from the sky, the blanket he had conjured wrapped loosely about her. " Is everything alright?"
He wanted to speak the truth. To say that it was not. One look into her eyes and he hadn't the heart to.
" We should be going now," he said at last, " the rain has delayed my....our... journey long enough."
A smile appeared upon Belldandy's face. She knew the turmoil she had inadvertantly caused Scott by choosing to accompany him was heavy upon his heart. That he would allow her to stay, despite reservations, made her glad. It had been a long time since she had that feeling. Too long.
The sun broke through the gradually declining clouds of grey, a cascade of colorful jewels twinkling about them. Bell changed quickly and joined Scott as he waited for her just outside the shelter entrance. Together, they embarked on a journey that would have deep implications for both of them.
Dinner was…. decidedly uncomfortable. Fam and Ihrlie had taken positions at opposite ends of the table, not on speaking terms after the ordeal in the triage.
Everyone present, Allen included, was amply aware of the friction between the two but none dared speak of it.
Stacey, taking the opportunity, decided to do something about this uncomfortable silence.
"Um, Allen. I noticed some of your people in the infirmary with some of the same injuries as ours."
"Yes." Allen responded with a heavy sigh "You are not the only ones to have been attacked by the dark ones. Villages all across the domain have been attacked and a few have actually been annihilated. Wiped clean as if by a wrath god."
"Oh my god!" Stacey said in shocked horror "How long has this been happening?"
"For the greater half of a year now….at least in this part of the world." Allen said mournfully "Only recently, they have increased in frequency and organization."
Amy, weighing Allen's words, asks, "So you believe they are centrally controlled and are not tribal?"
This surprised Allen, a feat not often performed. A person of her intuition is rare, and often hazardous.
"Yes." Said Allen a bit more enthusiastically "It's a theory of mine I've been considering lately."
Suddenly a knock on the doorframe brought everyone back to his or her senses. In the doorway was Dr. Tofu.
"Excuse me." Tofu interrupted " Ms. Fam, I'm here to tell you that your husband is awake and is asking for you."
Quickly Fam gets up and leaves the room, oblivious to the assumption made by Tofu that had caused dropped jaw syndrome in everyone else, returning only to deliver a peck on Tofu's cheek and a fast "Thank you!"
Ihrlie, obviously disturbed my Tofu's statement, slams her utensils onto the table and hurriedly leaves the room in a direction opposite of Fam's.
Rae, in a moment of epiphany, comments "Ah, so the sour mood is the fault of Kevin. Most interesting."
Upon the deck, Ihrlie peers out over the railing as the vessel winds it way towards Crystannia, oblivious to the massive dark clouds hanging over the city and nowhere else. Solitude was what she sought most at times like this. Her emotions raged as much as her fury. As a single tear welled up in her eye, she wiped it away and pounded the railing with her fist.
"Dammit! Why did he have to say THAT!!!"
Meanwhile, back in the infirmary. Just as Fam is about to enter the triage, Tofu's words strike like a bolt of lightening.
"Husband?" Fam thought, "He thinks I am Kevin's wife."
This contemplation, Fam thought, was not objectionable. The more she thought of the idea, the more blush she became. Could these feeling she has been harboring for Kevin be so obvious to everyone? That would explain Ihrlie's temperament lately. Perhaps, she reasoned, these emotions are stronger than even she had contemplated. This was made evident when she entered Kevin's enclosure. Upon seeing him sitting up on the cot, she broke into tears and hastened her pace. She wrapped her arms around him holding her head firmly against his chest. His heartbeat was strong and reassuring. Kevin placed his arms around her and smiled saying "Sorry for worrying you so much."
Fam just held him tighter. She cared not for what others may say or think. In her heart, she knew this felt right.
Dan, Robert, and Lindsey's dissapearence had been noted by Rory, who woke up wanting to talk to the drunken spic. Not having his own drunken spic to listen to ideas and ask questions of troubled Rory.
The red scrapes from the tree that was droped on him during the last battle were hurting , but seeing that they were clean and he was safe, Rory did what any AD&D wizard player would do with a new power, he tested it from the safty of his own body, which if what he planned went ary, would shortly become lest
than safe, possiblely even destroyed, but that was a vague possibility, and Rory was Far too curious to know how the power behaved. He started small, breathing deeply, and feeling all of his body, then sat crosslegged on the cot in his corner of the infermiry. Focusing he put all of his attention to observing the minute working of the body, after several moments he gently began to direct it and aid it with this new power, the usage of which in small amounts, is very much like wiggling your ears, ifficult unless you consntrate on it. His attention had wondered, back to work, he pored power into his wounds slowly, gently, and felt them close and seal up. Ha then thought about how to quickly access this ability.
If one maintained a vague awareness of a process it could be called on readily, like a reflex, but could the power be used to vcreat artificial processes and make them semi-perminent... half an hour later he had figured it out, think about the process, then form a mold around it in ones mind, pore power into it and it remained stuck in ones head, like the last song you hear on the radio, only like having it on tap.
Now what else can be done... "I always wanted wings" thought Rory. Start simple thay would be cumbersome to have all the time, so make them out of energy, of power. "no better start smaller"he said to himself. pooling his power he pored it into the shape of a band on his finger.Much to his supprise it went. as he tried to take it off he realized he had forgotten to set specififications for its behavior. it was quite simply, a band of colorles power painted on his finger. "OK, more specific, I can do that," Rory muttered.*Glow pale blue like indiglow when not activated, shine like sunlight when consentrated on* better if it stayed on his finger
rings could be lost and power solidified had to be unmade before it would come back. "Now to test it."
Rory looked at the glowing blue band on his finger and " OUCH DAMN thats bright!"the band had looked like the sun, *provide SOURCELESS Ilumination when activated* Now the room looked like the roof was sky at 10 am, bright but not too bright "and the room was dark again. Now wings... three hours and several modifications later he had a set of wings that would materialize to break his fall without contious thought, shield his back and sides like armor in a fight, aid him when he jumped if he thought about them, and alowed him to fly short distances quickly or longer trips at moderate speeds, but maintaining air at altitudes was a problem he had not solved yet. All because he told the power how to behave while it was at rest!
Rory conscentrated on his power and thought of his friends, he couldn't reach Dan, but if Dan was pasted out < I need to test this...KEVIN HE'LL understand... or kill me... oh well all in the name of scienc...> Anyone looking on Rory would have seen a smile swallow most of his face. Rory conscentrated on his power did not draw on it, just worked through it, he pictured everything hd knew about kevin, then -reached_ ,in a direction he never new existed, with his will.
Kevin
Rory
Rory was booted from Kevins mind and he heard a muffled yell from down on the other side of the room. He -reached- again and tentively
Kevin
Rory< I can hear everything you are thinking>
Kevin
Rory
Rory scans the workings of Kevin's mind,before he can be answered
Kevin
Rory
"I'll yell at you,"shouted Kevin, much purturbed by having someone look at how his brain worked. He didn't know why but he had the feeling Rory hadn't actually read anything he wasn't thinking about, just looked at what was inside his computer tower so to speak
With that accomplished Rory fell into a deep peaceful sleep, untroubled by the fatague that comes of actually taping and drawing on ones' power.
They had been running for too long. It no longer felt like hours. It felt like reality. All they knew was the unrelenting pain coursing through their bodies. As one, they ran. Humanity escaped them. All that mattered was the next step. Their thoughts had faded. All that was left was what was before them.
Lindsey had been running for hours. She had gone with Robert and Dan in the dead of night, intent on finding a creature so evil that it's touch had tainted the very souls of her friends. After a long enough time, all thought has gone from her. Only through force of will, the very essence of this strange new power coursing through her veins, had she managed to maintain such a hurried pace. They had ran much faster than any creature should run, fueled by need and desire, yet they had not reached their destination. They had not yet reached the creatures that were both their enemies and their saviors. Dan had told her he could feel them as surely as he could feel himself. He could track them through the pain in his chest. He said they were going farther away, moving quick as shadows. Lindsey tried to hide the fear growing inside her that they would not reach the creatures in time. Worse, however, was the fear that it would be to no avail. She feared she would lose her friends to the darkness that was becoming them.
But these were thoughts from hours past, now only drifting through her mind. She was no longer human. She was only Running.
Reality came back to her with the force of a jackhammer and the suddeness of a bolt of lightning. A flash flood of thoughts and emotions came to her. Sensation filled her core as her senses readjusted themselves to the corporeal world once again. Have I not been human? she thought I wanted so badly to run like the wind...we all did. Had we become the wind itself? But these thoughts left her as soon as she realized why they had stopped running.
Dan was on his knees, clutching his head in his hands. Robert stood next to him, trying to talk him back. Dan reared back his head and screamed in pain. Lindsey readied herself for the sound that did not come. Only silent pain came from him.
"What's wrong with him?" she asked desperately, rushing over to hold him steady.
"I don't know," responded Robert, "I was hoping you did."
Her fear mirrored in Robert's eyes and echoed in his voice left Lindsey no doubt that they were thinking the same thing. He is losing the battle against the darkness within him.
Abruptly, Dan's wild thrashing stopped. His breathing steadied. His body quaked and shivered, but it was passing. Smoke rose from his clothing, the familiar acrid stench of burning flesh and that vile darkness that emanated from his wounds whenever he used his power or drank from that accursed bottle he insisted on carrying at all times.
"Are you alright?" asked Lindsey, leaning close and holding his hand. Robert patted his back as he asked, "Yeah, are you with us now?"
Dan tried to speak, but could not find the words. He merely nodded and shut his eyes tightly as if concentrating. Slowly, the smoke began to clear away and with it went the stench. After a few moments, Robert spoke again.
"What happened? Was it...?" He could not even bring himself to mention the creatures. Of them all, he had suffered the most. Robert, who was normally calm and caring and softspoken; Robert, who was normally kind and peaceful, had been changed drastically by his wounds. Unless he concentrated, he became violent and angry, even dangerous. Worse, unless he concentrated the darkness spread from his wounds like running water. Already, almost the entirety of his arm had become like the fluid shadows of the monsters they had faced only a day before.
"No," answered Dan after several moments, apparently still collecting his strength and thoughts. "It was something else. Whatever it was reacted with the darkness. It was like something was trying to get inside my head. The only thing I could think of to stop it was to try to redirect it. I don't know how I did, but I did."
There was silence as Lindsey and Robert looked at each other. Lindsey hoped she was not losing him. After a moment of regaining his composure, Dan continued.
"I can still feel it. A link. I don't know from where it's coming from, just that it's there. I also know that if whoever or whatever wanted to, they could come into my mind again and I would be unable to stop them. I've been trying to sever the link with my power but it's like trying to cut through water."
Lindsey looked shocked. How is that possible? she asked herself. Her mind raced with possible solutions, as it always did when confronted with a problem. The power, she thought, the answer has to lie with the power. She closed her eyes then, concentrating, trying to channel her power back into herself. She imagined a golden thread running from Dan's mind. She willed herself to be able to see it. When she opened her eyes, she did.
A thread of liquid gold was sticking out of the back of Dan's head and heading back in the direction they had just come. Back towards the others. Robert and Dan seemed not to be able to see it, so Lindsey guessed her little trick had worked. She reached out with her power, feeling the string with her mind. It felt both warm and cool at once. Emotion flared from it and into her. She withdrew at once and jumped with a start.
"What is it?" asked Robert, his attention now entirely on Lindsey, his conversation with Dan abandoned.
"Shut up," she responded through gritted teeth as she reached out once more.
Anger touched Robert's eyes and his fingers twitched eagerly. It was the look from Dan that told him to control the dark that brought him back to his senses.
Lindsey reached out once more and touched the thread with her power. Again the heat and cold intermingled and shocked her. Again, every human emotion suddenly filled her. Instead of pulling away, however, she thrust her power into the thread, gripping it. The heat and cold became more pronounced. The emotions screamed at her. She felt pain she could barely stand. Tears streaked her face. She tried to focus on one aspect of the threat. The heat. Immediately, the pain intensified. She could not hold out much longer.
Lindsey felt Robert's untainted hand on her shoulder, and used it as a beacon for herself. She heard his voice in her head. Show me, it said, show me what you see.
Robert opened his eyes and saw a golden thread jutting out the back of Dan's head and off in the direction from which they had come.
"What do I do?" he asked. Dan responded, though it was not who he was asking, "Just give her your strength."
Lindsey heard Robert's voice again in her head. What do I do? She thought she heard Dan's voice, but it was too far away. Instead she sent her thoughts back to Robert. Concentrate on the thread. Put your power around it. Then concentrate on the heat.
Robert gasped. He had not imagined this sort of pain, this combination of sensations. His flesh burned where he had been wounded. In his mind, he heard a scream. He did not know if it was his own or Lindsey's, but he feared to suspect that it might be the darkness inside him.
Lindsey felt Robert grasping at the thread of liquid gold, trying to attack it, trying to tear it apart. She guided his power with a soft hand, focused his strength and her own into the heat of the thread. She wanted to burn it from existence. Her power ignited the thread and she and Robert both flinched at the burst of invisible light and inaudible sound as the thread was severed. Dan fell unconcious and Robert took back his power and rushed to his side. But Lindsey didn't need it anymore. She could see the thread flailing around like a wounded snake, it's head aflame. She then forced the flame back. Go home, she said to it, and show your master what pain is.
Hours and miles away, a world away, Rory gave a short scream of pain before passing out. The next morning at breakfast Rory anounces the success and failure of his latest experiment."Folks, Dan, Robert, and Lindsey are ok, but I accidently hurt Dan while trying not to touch the taint in his body,"
Rory said gravely. "I have not yet developed a methode to teach this yet, but Lindsey seems to have a natural grasp of it," he continued, "I did figure out how to work magic here, without using Pow...er," he was inturrupted by an empity pewter mug bouncing off his head, thrown by Kevin, who had been wheeled into the dinning area in a summoned wheelchair. "Ok, I deserved that, I have twice been careless in my experiments, I will therefore refrain from any further experimentation on people or characters, unless someone volenteers."
"What I have discovered is that it may be easiest to figure it out by yourself, as each of our minds work in diffrent ways."
Rae took this opertunity to ask,"so what your saying is we should do it ourselves? what good does that do us?"
Rory looked rather sheepish,"you need to figure out how to use your power now, while we have peace and safty, rather than waiting until you need it most, then having it fail you." Having said all he had needed to, Rory sat down and began to eat voratiously. He felt eyes on him, some in confusion, most angry at him for hurting Dan, and scareing Kevin.
Ihrlie gets up from the table and takes hold of Kevin's wheelchair.
"We're GOING to talk!" Ihrlie states gruffly as she wheels Kevin from the room. Fam, protesting and lunging to stop her, is stopped by Rae.
"Let them talk."
"But, Ihrlie might…" Fam protests.
"This needs to happen."Rae continues "They both need to clear the air if things are to get any smoother."
Disgruntled, Fam plops into a chair and devours a roll.
Go Back :: Chapter 4
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