The trip had been hard- far, far harder than he’d expected. 16 miles didn’t sound like much to his current self, but when he’d been pushing his body to the max, it was exhausting. His lungs burned and his muscles ached, but he’d made it in only ten or so minutes- and already, he could tell that Jeremiah had been right.

The city lacked any form of large makeshift town like the Evergreens or Anoptera- instead, it was composed of tiny encampments of humans. He spotted very few animals of any sort amongst the rubble, which made sense due to the spread-out nature of the humans, and he also spotted several skirmishes amongst human encampments. Gunfire rang out across the rubble of the city almost perpetually, and he even saw a few explosions here and there.

‘They’re barely even using essence,’ Turi noted after observing them for a few minutes from the air. Most of the humans relied almost entirely on firearms and explosives for some reason.

There were some buildings with bigger concentrations of humans, though- most of them were labeled ‘casino’, but there were many that were for more… evil purposes. Turi couldn’t see through solid stone, but it was impossible for one with senses like his to miss the rancid stench permeating certain buildings.

Cloaking himself in shadows, Turi let himself go into free-fall for a few seconds, catching himself just before striking the ground. He flew low to the ground, and within seconds, he was at one of the worst-smelling buildings.

He hopped over to the building’s entrance, and time briefly came to a stop as a bullet blazed towards him, one of the two guards at the entrance having noticed him. Turi’s eyes flashed, and the stone and metal littering the rubble-filled ground jumped up in an instant to catch the bullet.

Within seconds, the two humans were slammed into the ground, held down by metal and rubble. He molded it all into a single solid and then let go, leaving most of the humans’ bodies encased in a solid block of stone and alloy.

Turi strutted forward, shoving the door open with a bit of difficulty due to his small size, and peeked into the building. It was dark, and the smell was horrible. He almost threw up, but his eyes flashed and the air entering his nostrils became clear. They glowed faintly after that, as he needed to keep it going semi-permanently.

After solving the problem of the smell, he looked beyond just the fact it was dark. Humans- mostly women and children- were stuffed into rows and rows of cages, littered with excrement. They were all visibly malnourished, likely only alive because of their essence, and their skin was all leathery and gross- a clear sign of dehydration.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

His entire life, he’d looked up to humans and the marvels they’d created. As a hatchling, he’d been saved by a human child, pulled away from a housecat at the last moment and placed back into the tree where he’d fallen from. Even after becoming a peer to humans, he looked up to them.

The sudden disillusionment and disgust towards the actions of these people evoked a visceral reaction of rage, betrayal and disgust.

Jeremiah had been more than right- when Turi saw the horrible state that these people were in, his stomach churned. His heart beat hard with anger and disgust, and even his essence began to roil with rage.

“Intruder on south container,” One of the guards said from outside and buried within stone, into a walkie talkie- one of the marvels that he’d looked up to humans for, tainted by the man’s existence.

Turi almost killed the man then and there- it wouldn’t be difficult, to just manipulate the stone ever-so-slightly to snap his neck, but he forced his emotions in a positive direction.

He would help these people to escape from the depths of humanity. He would…

‘It’s not enough.’ Turi felt. He let his essence fall dormant within his body, and the repugnant smell of this ‘container’ hit him like a truck.

He would save these people from being treated worse than any living creature deserved. He would create a place for them all to live in safety- a place where they had access to the resources necessary to become strong enough to protect themselves.

‘More.’ Turi thought, stepping deeper into the rancid pits of humanity’s evils. It was not that he enjoyed these peoples’ suffering, but that his will was still not ironclad enough to ascend. He needed to understand on a more primal level that these were people, just like him, Deri, and Jeremiah.

Not one of the people looked up despite all of the commotion. He approached one of the cages, staring into it and at a child. He had short, blond hair and a gaunt body. He was half-asleep, clinging to an adult woman who, he could sense, had died not long ago.

One by one, Turi witnessed the depravity of this ‘container’. There were nude women, their bodies bruised and damaged, and there were half-dead children. Tears began to trace their way down his face, but he continued deeper.

When the reinforcements the guard had called for inevitably arrived, Turi killed them all. He felt nothing as he did so- not when they had done this to these people. Turi had never killed a human before, but it was shockingly easy- a lance of metal through the neck, and they were all gone.

Finally, as he came across the very last cage in the room, Turi felt his essence shift, and he only barely held back a flood of power. He could not remain a mere Ascended Crow after reaching the third Realm, and would have to create a new, greater body- but not here. If he did it here, he’d be in tremendous danger.

So, with great reluctance, Turi broke a hole in the wall and turned to take in the depravity of this ‘container’.

“Hold on a little bit longer. I will save you.” Turi declared to them all. Only a few stirred from his words, but it didn’t matter- the words were true.