Chapter 6

Zerker looked at him with awe. “Amazing. Truly. Here I thought only the Angels were capable of such power.”

Aiden frowned at that, but before he could ponder on what Zerker said, the man exploded with a bright red fire. The fire enveloped every inch of his body, the rain fall was unable to extinguish the flames.

“Careful now, with my Rageheart form I’m two times as fast and much stronger.” Zerker shouted over the sound of the storm overhead.

“Do you always speak so much?”

Zerker smiled. “I just love to fight. I’d hate to kill you too quickly.”

“Your level of arrogance astounds me.” Aiden said before he flashed forward. The spirit of the wolf channeled through his body making him faster, stronger, and more powerful then he’d ever been.

Zerker rushed forward as well. They both met halfway, the collision was like a high-speed car crash between two trucks. They were both tossed backward from the force of the blow.

Aiden shook out his hand and appraised the man before him. He’s just as powerful as I am… Aiden thought.

No. He’s stronger. Ubel said. But he’s not as fast, nor is he as agile as you. You were capable of overpower all your previous opponents, that will not work with this man. Use your head.

Aiden sobered up. Ubel was right, this Guardian was powerful. With a new strategy in mind he charged forward once again, only this time the claws on his feet were protracted. He used them to dig into the ground to find stable purchase.

Zerker met him half-way, again. Only this time, Aiden darted to the side. He dug his feet into the ground and charged again. Zerker was still sliding on the ground trying to stop when pain erupted from his backside.

The fire around him exploded but Aiden was already twenty feet away. Zerker turned towards him with a vicious snarl. “You play a coward’s game!” He shouted.

Aiden laughed. “Really? You hid in the forest like a little bitch while I fought all these Guardians.” Aiden gestured to all the corpses around them then turned an up-raised brow at Zerker. “And I’m the coward?”

Zerker bit his lip in frustration. Aiden laughed again, then he charged. Zerker met his charge, this time he increased the level of output on his Rageheart form. The fire’s radius increased, the level of heat was so powerful it made the water around him turn to mist.

Aiden came within his vicinity and dodged again. Zerker turned abruptly, this time using a pile of corpses to slow him down. Aiden charged at his front, but Zerker didn’t have the momentum to charge. He stood his ground and prepared for what was to come.

Aiden was about to tear into the man before him, but something impacted with his knee, causing it to buckle. He quickly recovered from the blow and dashed backward. On the ground of where he previously stood was a bullet.

The bullet was three inches long and the top was smashed from where it had impacted with his knee. There were magical symbols etched onto the bullet. A pit of fear grew in his stomach as he realized the implications. He ran to the trees for cover but another bullet impacted with the back of his knee.

Aiden fell to the ground and slid. Before he could stand he felt something collide with his temple and it was lights out.

…

“Are you crazy?!” Zerker shouted when Deadshot came walking out of the woods with her rectangular briefcase in hand. “You could’ve killed him!”

She looked at him with a loathsome expression, but otherwise remained silent as she walked towards Aiden. The wisps of energy surrounding his body were gone. As were the claws and hair. Aiden had reverted back to a normal human.

“Would you quit your moaning and retrieve his body? We still have a magic treasure to find.” Deadshot sneered at the sniveling man.

Zerker wasn’t finished. He wanted to give her another piece of his mind, but his argument stopped short when a flash of purple lightning crashed into the forest.

“That wasn’t far from here.” Zerker said as he turned his head towards the location.

Deadshot turned her head as well. “That’s the location Aiden came from. The magical treasure is probably that way.”

As soon as that lightning struck, the sky began to clear up. The rain stopped and the black clouds dispersed. The sky returned to its former state, a cloud-less, sunny blue sky.

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“Make sure you secure him. I’ll go check it out.” Deadshot said as she pulled out a pistol. The pistol had glowing runes and sigils that radiated with a soft blue light.

She left Zerker alone with the prisoner and plunged into the forest. She focused a little soul magic into her eyes, and the world seemed to slow down. She looked towards the location where the lightning struck, her eyes automatically adjusting to the distance.

Like the zoom of a camera, her eyes focused. The area that was struck by lightning came into view. The impact site was charred, the grass and trees were smoking black. There, lying in the middle of the impact zone was a body.

She would’ve thought this body was stolen from a mummy exhibit. The corpse was so thin and skinny. From the subtle rise and fall she could tell the person was alive though, despite his malnourished appearance. She silently traversed the distance between them and stood over the man.

His face was harsh and angular and his skin was stretched taught. Deadshot couldn’t believe the man was still alive. He was so emaciated and fragile-looking.

Could this be the magical treasure? She wondered. The abnormal purple lightning had struck this man, she was sure of it.  How he was still alive, or what he was doing out here were both questions that burned in her brain, but she put them to the side and began to canvass the area.

Ten minutes later she came upon an area with dead foliage. The trees were blackened husks, the grass yellowed and dry. The whole area was devoid of any life. In the middle of this life-less area was a recently dug-up grave.

“It must be him.” She thought as she peered down at the empty grave. “He must be the magical treasure Mendell was after.”

…

The door appeared before him like it had a thousand times in the past. Nate didn’t know why he was in this state, but it felt like it was never going to end. He’d prefer a permanent death rather than continue re-living this hell.

With a deep sigh, he moved towards it again, but this time there was something different about the door. Nate felt it as soon as he put his hands on it. It was radiating with energy.

Something’s changed. He thought as his heart began to beat faster. He turned the knob and felt more energy radiate from the door and into his arm. He opened the door slightly, but the door shattered to pieces. A wave of violet light blinded him as he was thrown backward.

With a loud gasp, he opened his eyes. There was a bright light shining down on him. Nate closed his eyes and moaned in pain.

“He’s awake!” Someone shouted.

Nate didn’t recognize the voice.

That’s when the realization hit him. He didn’t recognize the voice! For what felt like centuries, he’d been in that dark place suffering from horrible nightmares. The dream had re-occurred so many times that he memorized every detail from it.

When he heard the man’s voice he knew he wasn’t in that dream state anymore. Could it be?

“Go! Report this to the Director!” Another voice shouted.

“The Director is in a meeting.” Another voice replied.

“He said to notify him when the patient woke up!”

“But he’s in a meeting with mages! We can’t intrude!”

The voices continued to argue. Nate was too distracted relishing the sensation of being alive. He opened his eyes again, thankfully whoever was in the room had moved the light source away from him so that he could see.

He was in what appeared to be a doctor’s office. There were four people standing around him wearing white lab coats. At the far end, he could see three men and a woman dressed in black and grey camouflage standing there patiently. The four doctors were arguing on what to do when they noticed Nate watching them.

“Where am I?” He wanted to ask but for some reason his voice wouldn’t work.

“Don’t force yourself to speak.” The one who spoke was a female doctor who appeared to be in her late thirties. She looked like a mother, the way she spoke to him so gently.

She approached him. There was a chair beside where he lay, the doctor sat down so that she was eye-level with him. Somehow that made Nate feel better, it made her seem more approachable.

“Just an hour ago, you were in a coma. Your brain was functioning at its lowest stage of alertness, but despite all our efforts, you wouldn’t wake up. Judging by the level of deterioration of your bones and muscles, we think you may have been in a coma for at least ten years.”

Nate’s eyes widened at that. Ten years? It felt like he’d spent centuries in that hellish state, but it had only been ten years?

He tried to get up but his body felt so weak. The doctor laid a hand on him and gently applied pressure, forcing Nate back on the bed. He tried to get up again but the woman’s hand pinned him down.

“You have to take it easy. You’ve been in this condition for years; your loss of muscle mass and bone density means you are too weak to stand. Not to mention what will happen to your heart if you try to force yourself to stand.

Nate thought about using his telekinesis, but the woman was right. His body was very weak. He could probably get by using his powers, but what would happen to his heart if he pushed himself? Just trying to sit up had already caused his heart to beat furiously as if he’d run ten miles.

“Where am I?” He asked again, this time he used his telekinetic powers to speak directly into the woman’s mind. Her eyes lit up in surprise as she looked around for the source of the voice. Finally, her eyes landed on Nate.

“You?” She mouthed with her lips.

“What is this place?” Nate asked.

The woman backed away, her facing grew pale. “Relax, I won’t hurt you. Please, I need to know what’s going on.”

The woman paused and thought about it. She sat back down after a minute of hesitation. “Y-you can read my mind?” She thought.

“I can only read your surface thoughts.” Nate lied. He could reach into her mind and do much more, but the woman would feel him rooting around in her brain.

Not to mention the side effects. the brain was a very delicate thing, to forcefully take information out of someone would likely have adverse effects on their wellbeing. The woman had been kind to him, Nate didn’t want to do anything to harm her.

“You’re in Mercy Hospital. The Guardians found you in the woods and brought you back here for some emergency medical treatment. You’re very lucky to be alive.” The woman said aloud.

She leaned forward and parted Nate’s gown, revealing his bare chest. His ribcage was visible and there was a large scar that started from his collar bone down to his stomach.

“Someone up above must’ve been looking out for you.” The doctor smiled.