Chapter 26: To Commune, Rylan

A full month had passed since the start of the merger, the sky had now retained a permanent purple hue with occasional streaks of red light sending a thundering sound through the air and the earth below it had crumpled and shifted in ways that made it unrecognizable, Physics was no longer a concept to be obeyed as rocks and pebbles stayed in the air, creatures without wings or anything physical means to navigate the air flew gracefully, mass created out of thin air destroying structures that had stood for decades, complete cities that now in the air with no support, it was something straight out of a mystic novel written by a deranged author with nothing better to do than write our every horror that plagued his mind. The age of physical quantities was being left behind, giving way for the age of Arkana.

The military had tried their possible best to fight against the scourge that was the merger but it wasn't long before they eventually fell, Power plants crashed, transportation systems destroyed, roads and bridges alike now a distant reminder of what was and would never again be. The government's of the world tried its best to keep its greedy hands on power but the new world no longer had a need for them hence their continuous fall, Irrelevance became their crest, their banner.

Rylan sat on a fallen tree in a forest far from his city that had managed to stay intact, night had fallen over the forest, casting him in the depths of it's darkness and the chill of it's wind, He shivered slightly but continued to set the fire, after a few more seconds of careful placement of dried leaves and branches he activated the mothlight, not fully just enough of it's heat to burn a branch but still the burn was unbearable, normally he would have just protected himself with Arkana when he activated it but right now, his focus was fixed on suppressing and the second he switched the lurking beast would immediately track him and attack, alot more trouble than it's worth so he gritred his teeth through the pain and lit it up, Fire was born. The flame provides warmth and just enough light to let him see without relying on his nonexistent night vision. He looked around the forest again and realized that although the change was worldwide it was a lot more focused on places with dense population and human activities, which made places like this and mountain sides slightly occupiable. Beast still roamed, he could sense them but due to his control they couldn't sense him, His Arkana burned like a lighter, steady, calm and efficient. He turned to Peter who slept peacefully beside him, He'd somehow managed to protect the boy from the horrors of the new world but he wondered, how long would he last by simply avoiding beasts, He wasn't getting any stronger and he was certain that eventually they'd come across a beast that would be able to sense him and confrontation would be unavoidable.

He wasn’t stupid enough to lie to himself, Peter was a burden that was eventually going to get him killed, the thought of abandoning the boy had come across his mind a few times, after all he owed him nothing, He wasn't the one who caused this hence he had no need to make amends but for some reason any time he even remotely tried to act on that thought, his body would refuse to move and he'd stay stuck.

“Maybe, I am pure of heart.” He chuckled to himself, the sound although quiet traveled through the empty woods, deep into the woods something heard and a russel followed. “Fuck.” He cursed as he stood in preparation to pick up Peter and run but after a few seconds nothing came, he sat back down and let out a thankful sigh, He was definitely not ready for any sort of confrontation right now but he couldn't sleep, He couldn't remember the last time he'd allowed himself to sleep, he was sure the bags under his eyes had become a permanent fixtures but he remained awake, because he couldn't afford for his control to falter and put both their lives at risk so he stayed awake.

“Well….What do we have here?” A man's voice said from behind him, Rylan's own reaction shocked him, the moment the sound hit his ears, his body sprung into attack, he unsheated the hunters knife he'd strapped along his waist and thrusted himself at the voice, the person tried to avoid contact but Rylan was faster, he held tightly unto his shoulders, tripped him over and slammed him hard into the ground, before he could even recover Rylan pressed the dull edge of the knife to his neck.

“Move if you have a deathwish.” Two seconds, two seconds was all it took to demonstrate his utter and total superiority. The man threw his hands into the air and Rylan didn't know if it was because it was night and he wasn't seeing clearly or because he was sleepy, But the man looked to be amused, not frightened, not scared, not even surprised, Amused.

“Slow down Tiger, I ain't your enemy.” The man said, when he still felt Rylan's blade pressed against his neck.

“What do you want?” Rylan hissed.

“To commune, it's rare to see another person these days, Of course one who hasn't been ripped to shreds.” He joked, but something didn't sit right with Rylan, the overly friendly tone the man used was off-putting.

“Who are you?”

“Jakob Greevik, I swear on my momma God rest her soul, I do not want problems brother.”

Rylan debated releasing him but in the end decided to release him, he could feel the Arkana swirling in the Jakob but it was barely active, a fellow player not strong enough that he'd be able to cause problems Rylan couldn't handle so he removed the knife, placed it back in his sheath and helped Jakob to his feet.