Chapter 28: My Affiliation

Flash, light gleamed as the side of his blade reflected the brightness of the fire, Blinding Jakob for a second as Rylan sped towards him, Rylan's speed was surprising, despite the fatigue that plagued every fiber of his being, Jakob couldn't keep up, Rylan swung his blade but Jakob shifted, barely dodging the attack that was quickly followed by a spinning kick, He raised his arm to block the attack but the impact sent him falling sideways to the ground and before he could even recover Rylan had straddled him.

Rylan raised his hand, ready to thrust the blade into Jakob's stomach when he threw his hands up in surrender.

“Wait!” The scream was loud but filled with an obvious dose of amusement, There was no sign of fear on his features, His green eyes caught the light of the fire, amplifying their glow. Anger filled Rylan, Jakob's mock reaction sent rage through his veins, His grip tightened on the blade's hilt.

“Don't worry, it won't be long before Vrey comes to join you.” He promised, Rage controlling his actions, unable to even think straight as he remembers the fear that Vrey inflicted into him, If Jakob was connected to him then he was an enemy and although he'd never seen himself as a murderer when it came to His life or the life of one who posed a threat to him, There was no longer a debate to be had.

“Wait, I beg you.” Jakob said, but his tone in no way resembled a plea. He sounded like a man barely holding himself back from bursting into laughter which only worsened Rylan's angry state. “Can I have a chance to explain before you go ahead and put that knife there in my chest.”

Rylan's jaw flexed, an unwillingness to listen pushing him to drive the blade over and over until Jakob was limp underneath him but the part of his brain that always forced him to think things through kicked in. Why would Vrey live him alive and not just take his core like he'd been trying to do with them, Maybe he didn't have one—No he could feel the energy flowing through it, He definitely had one, So why wouldn't Vrey take his life…Time moves differently in the border, If he was to put it on the same timeline as his meeting with Daragura then to Vrey a month had passed before he'd been released, Enough time to let go or fixate on something and he wasn't naive enough to think Vrey would just forget him—He couldn't predict Vrey, he had no information to base an assumption on but for some reason Vrey had left Jakob alive so he ran the possibilities through his mind. One; Jakob was stronger and overpowered him, he highly doubted there'd be a player stronger than Vrey. Two; Jakob made some kind of deal that involved him, He wouldn't flatter himself by assuming such a level of importance. Three; the most likely of all, Jakob held a position that would make his death a hindrance to Vrey, As much as he didn't know anything about Vrey, same could be said about Jakob but he didn't seem like just another guy, He felt like a figure of authority similar to Maerik which would mean Vrey let him live because he could be of use in the future.

He subconsciously eased off Jakob and his hearty smile extended. While Rylan had made the decision to let him live in just five second’s, Jakob had been watching him intensely all through, reading every micro expression, every shift in his gaze, every line that formed on his forehead, the tension in his jaw, the way his lips pressed together as he made the decision.

“Well isn't that nice, You decided to spare me after all.” He said with a grin like he'd expected nothing less. Rylan didn't say anything as he rose but Jakob noticed he didn't sheath the blade, even though he determined that he wasn't working with Vrey, he was still cautious of him.

“What's your relationship with Vrey?” Straight to the point.

“We don't have one.”

“I—”

“Before you call my bullshit let me explain, He Waltzed his way to my shelter and tried to kill me.”

“I honestly doubt your ability to fend off Vrey.” Rylan said as his grip tightened on the blade.

“Calm down boy.” Jakob chuckled. “Let me finish. He tried but he couldn't.”

Rylan took a step forward, Arkana beginning to build up inside him.

“Men, He must have done a number on you, he has you jumpier than a little rabbit.” Jakob joked, poorly. Rylan took another step forward and for the first time since he'd stepped out of the woods Jakob's face straightened and every hint of unseriousness vanished. “Vrey came into my shelter, blabbing and blabbing bout someone who screwed him over named Rylan, his mention of you made me interested you see, so I let him into my home and immediately he starts going off about Arkana and other shit and he immediately he was done, he attacked me….but here's the thing about me, I'm never alone, He was outnumbered and even if he thought he could beat us all he knew it wasn't going to be worth it, So he left.” His voice deepened to emphasize the next few words. “That is my affiliation with the man named Vrey.”

Rylan stared for a moment, checking for any signs of dishonesty but Jakob was unreadable, His eyes had dimmed and his features had become completely blank, Rylan couldn't tell what was going on in his mind and he realized The person he'd been talking to was nothing more than a friendly mask, This unreadable figure before him was the Real Jakob Greevik and even if he'd been able to bring Jakob to the ground twice he honestly doubted if he could do it to the man before him but that wasn't what bothered him, he kept fixating on something Jakob said that could be his answer to his Peter problem.

“What do you mean by shelter?”