Oath of the Survivor

Duilleag.  Kyle felt his pulse quicken as the realization hit him.  This was where Garth’s friends had died, where he’d been betrayed.  And these were the bastards that did it.  If Garth’s stories about Crystal and her skills were accurate, Kyle had no doubt that she’d have been able to shear off a leg like this.  Puzzle pieces clicked together one after another, but he did his best to suppress them.  He was in the belly of the beast, and panicking here could get him killed.  Turning back to the patient on the bed, his mind was racing.  Maybe I can –

[DR. MAYHEW, YOU MAY NOT REMEMBER BUT GARTH AND THE OTHERS IN HIS GROUP CAME FROM DUILLEAG.  SIR, DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO ANY OF THE MEDICAL RECORDS FOR GARTH BOLTSBURY?  GET SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH, I’LL GIVE YOU A LIST OF THE RECORDS WE’LL BE NEEDING.] 

Kyle looked at the drone in horror, then up at the widening eyes of the other man in the room.  His mouth was agape, and he turned suddenly towards the door.  Dammit.  Kyle made his decision, and after a quick burst of speed Kyle had his arm around the man’s neck in a choke hold, holding tight until the man stopped struggling. 

[DR. MAYHEW, HE WON’T BE ABLE TO GET THE RECORDS IF HE’S UNCONSCIOUS.] 

“C.H.A.D.D., I don’t think he was going to get the medical records.  We need to go.”

[WHAT ABOUT THE PATIENT?]

Kyle stopped to consider that question.  If this had been before the cataclysm, he wouldn’t have thought twice. Now, he thought about Garth.  He remembered well the haunted look in his friend’s eyes as he recounted the story, the pain present when he remembered the loss of the person he loved.  Something cold and cruel stirred inside Kyle.  I’m not letting another monster get up to commit more atrocities.

“Not my problem.  If these people are who I think, she deserves whatever’s coming to her.” 

With that, Kyle held C.H.A.D.D under his arm and walked through the hallways and back up the stairs.  As he emerged from the repurposed supply depot, he noted the frantic energy in the town had ratcheted up a notch.  He hoped he’d be able to slip out amidst the hustle and bustle, but that hope was dashed as he heard the voice bellow out towards him. 

“Mayhew, where you headed?  I owe you a beer at the least.  It'll be a while before Valentine comes back.” 

The hulking form of Cornelius walked over, the same cavalier grin on his face. 

“Cornelius, I’m surprised you’re still here and smiling given the news that your men are dead.  I was in the room when Valentine found out and took off.  I thought you’d want to go with him.”

Kyle said, hoping the man would take the hint and walk away.

Cornelius snorted. 

“A handful of unawakened soldiers to get you on our side was a gamble worth taking.  It paid off, didn’t’ it?  We both got out, added a Healer to Liberation, and when it’s all said and done, we’ll have our hands on some real weaponry too.  Those rifles were something else, I know Valentine’ll put them to good use.”

The nervous fear Kyle felt was quickly replaced by anger at Cornelius’ attitude towards the men who died, and he couldn’t hold his tongue. 

“You got out, and you might well get some weapons out of the deal.  But I’m not joining your group, and I’m not staying.  I know what you did here.  And I refuse to have a part in any of it.  Go rot in hell.” 

“What do you mean you’re not staying?  Don’t’ you get it?  You don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I’d rather be on my own than with you.” 

Kyle’s voice was sharp as he met Cornelius’ eyes.  The other man’s response came out in a growl. 

“Those men were a good trade for another awakened.  I’m not going to just let you walk away and leave me with nothing.” 

Kyle activated HASTE just in time to dodge a haymaker, which was much faster than Kyle anticipated.   He took two quick steps backward to create some distance, but the large man followed. 

“You’re a coward, Mayhew.”

His growl turned into a roar as he threw another wild punch, mana infusing his limbs. 

“If you’re going to tell me to rot in hell at least have the stones to try and send me there yourself!” 

His strikes were sloppy and relatively easy to dodge, but Kyle knew that the destructive power behind each was enough to do major damage, if not kill him outright.  The smart play was to run.  Holding C.H.A.D.D. kept him from using his left arm, and even if he had both hands free Kyle wasn’t confident he’d be able to finish the fight decisively.  On the other hand, he was furious.  The anger he’d been harboring these past few months was boiling over.  These monsters were worse than any wild beast – and Kyle was done with it. 

Dodging another wide swing, Kyle stepped around and punched the larger man in the ribs with his free right hand.  It felt like punching a block of concrete, and he saw Cornelius grin as he stepped away. 

“Gonna take a lot more than that.  You know, I wasn’t a big fan of the idea but Valentine insisted.  He has a soft spot for lost puppies like you, but I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were weak.  You couldn’t handle Carlyle, and you most certainly can’t handle me.” 

With that last sentence, Kyle realized his mistake.  Mana had continued to build in Cornelius’ body, and he released it all now in an omnidirectional blast.  Kyle found himself thrown off his feet, and the crowd that had begun to gather scattered instantly.  He barely had time to react as a booted foot crashed into the ground where his head would have been, and for the second time this day Kyle found himself in a position where his life was in danger. 

He wanted to scream with the frustration.  He felt so powerless, but this wasn’t the time.  Springing to his feet with HASTE fully active, Kyle darted towards the edge of the town. 

“You really are a coward, aren’t you?” 

It was a different voice this time, and Kyle whirled to see a familiar man keeping pace to his left, a shimmering haze surrounding him. 

“You could have chased me down back then, but you didn’t.  And now you’re running away.  Again.”  Carlyle paused, a faraway look on his face. 

“I should kill you for all you and Boltsbury cost me, but the mess you just made for that oaf is almost enough for me to forgive you.  So, I’ll leave you this message: stay the hell away from us.  Every time you show up, you ruin everything.  So go far, far away from here and never let me see your face again, coward.” 

With that, the shimmer faded and Carlyle stopped pursuing him. 

Kyle kept an eye on the figure as he retreated, and from what he could tell Carlyle had simply turned back towards Duilleag.  Kyle continued to run in silence as the light faded, furiously working through everything that had happened over the past day.  He had been in two situations that easily could have ended with his death.  He met somebody who claimed to be close to his grandfather, and it turned out they were the same people responsible for taking over Duilleag.  C.H.A.D.D., his longest companion in this new world, was damaged. 

These thoughts were overwhelming, and Kyle realized with a start that he had lost track of where he was going.  How long have I been running?  He honestly had no idea, and he forced himself to deactivate HASTE and stop.  Based on the dull ache across his body, he had been running with his skill for at least two hours, but as the last vestiges of light faded on the horizon, he knew the most important thing was to find somewhere to rest.  He knew if he kept pushing nothing good would happen. 

“C.H.A.D.D., do you have any idea where we are?” 

[NONE WHATSOEVER, DR. MAYHEW.]

“Do you at least know which direction we were running?” 

[NO, DR. MAYHEW.  THE ACTIVATION OF A TRANSPORT ARRAY SCRAMBLED RELATIVE GEOGRAPHY, AND WITHOUT CONNECTING TO THE MANA NETWORK I AM UNABLE TO RECALIBRATE.] 

“What the hell is a transportation array?”

[CLASSIFIED.  DETAILS ARE UNCLEAR, I APOLOGIZE, DR. MAYHEW.]

“Have your sensors picked up any people nearby?”

[NOTHING MEANINGFUL TO REPORT AT THIS TIME, DR. MAYHEW.]

Well, crap.  Kyle hadn’t realized how much he’d relied on the drone, but these new limitations on C.H.A.D.D.’s function were finally sinking in.  He would have to figure out how to make do.  He took a look around as darkness continued to fall, looking at the broken trees and rocks that littered the ground.  They were in the middle of a forested area, which he’d initially thought was the same forest that surrounded Nierburg.  Now that he really looked at it, the destruction here was much more significant.  Wherever he’d run, he was in new territory. 

Walking at a normal pace to allow REGENERATION to soothe his battered body, he collected tree limbs and leaned them against a large stone nearby.  Settling into the primitive shelter, Kyle took a long pull from his canteen as he let his mind return to the events of the day.  He knew how closely he’d cut it today, and he knew that something needed to change.  If he was stronger, if he’d planned better, things would have played out very differently. 

[DR. MAYHEW, SOMETHING INTERESTING APPEARED ON A SCAN.] 

“Are we in danger, C.H.A.D.D.?”

[NOT IMMEDIATELY, DR. MAYHEW.]

“What did you pick up?  I’m not sure if I can handle giant-sized birds.”

[INDETERMINIBLE.  BUT THERE IS A FAINT MANA SIGNATURE COMING FROM BELOW US, GIVING OFF THE SAME FLUCTUATIONS THAT YOU DO.]

The same as me.  Kyle kept going back to that thought, everything else momentarily pushed from his mind. 

“What do you mean, C.H.A.D.D.?  You’re saying I’m giving off fluctuations, what are they?”

[EVER SINCE WE FOUND YOU UNCONSCIOUS IN ALBAUM, YOU HAVE BEEN EMITTING FAINT PULSES OF MANA.  IS IT SAFE TO ASSUME YOU ARE NOT DOING THIS INTENTIONALLY?]

“Definitely not.”

[THEN YOU SHOULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO STOP THEM INTENTIONALLY, DR. MAYHEW.  THEY ARE QUITE NOTICEABLE.] 

Kyle frowned, closing his eyes and focusing on his center.  Despite all the other changes after killing the fly, nothing seemed to have changed with the way his mana flowed through his body.  It flowed more powerfully, but it wasn’t a change from what it had been before.  In fact, the only material change he could think of was back when he’d first noticed the metamorphosis to his Arthro-Human Chimera race.  At that time, he’d noticed the mana in his body pulsed in the same rhythm he felt from the chaotic energy brought by the calamity.  Focusing more intently, he started to track the cadence of the pulses, lightly tapping on C.H.A.D.D.’s damaged hull as he felt the energy ebb and flow. 

“Is this the timing you’re noticing?” 

[YES, DR. MAYHEW.  I AM NOT ABLE TO DETECT THE SOURCE OF THE OTHER PULSES, BUT SOMETHING NEARBY IS GIVING OFF THE EXACT SAME FLUCTUATION.]

Kyle nodded, slowly putting the pieces together.  Whatever had changed him had also changed the world, and he knew that whatever it was that C.H.A.D.D. had detected was related.  It might even help provide the answers to what had been happening.  Still, after everything he’d been through today Kyle wasn’t going to rush in blind.  He also wasn’t about to leave secrets undiscovered.   First rest, then we’re going in there.

 “C.H.A.D.D., if you feel the source of the pulses getting closer wake me up.  If you lose track of them, do the same.  We’ve got a couple things to do first, but then we’re going to figure out what’s going on.” 

 

 

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