Chapter 3 - Ryan Fainted
Ryan slept so quickly he couldn’t remember hitting the ground. He immediately fell into a vivid dream, almost thinking he’d died and been reborn again. He climbed to his feet in a realm of pitch black and looked himself over. He was lit oddly, the dark everywhere led him to believe there was no light, but here he was visible and changed again. He looked again to his arms, and saw his thumb and wrist scars, down to his legs he saw his knee scar too. A voice joined him from the void.
“This is novel, I remember being here before, but not what came after it”
Standing before Ryan was a figure, leaner and taller than him, glistening blue like glowing water.
“Are you him, the one who brought me back?” Ryan asked.
“Sort of, it’s a weird situation”
“Well I’m dreaming now aren’t I? don’t we have time? if this is real…” Ryan’s questions carried worry, and the figure before him felt this.
“You’re only kind of dreaming, we do have time, and this is real.” The figure waited for a response and when Ryan remained silent, it continued “I am an Adept, a kind of spiritual creature who melds with a loose soul. You. I lend my power to that soul to allow it to grow, and as it grows, so do I.”
“By a loose soul, you mean a dead one?”
“Not quite, I mean a soul without a body. You were already dying, so I snatched you up before you could become too loose”
“Too loose?” Ryan grew tense again.
“It's a soul thing, I don’t recall much of it myself.”
“You’re seeming vague on a lot of this, haven’t you done this before?” Ryan’s confusion turned to impatience, a pattern the Adept was beginning to recognize.
“I have, but when an Adept leaves a soul it leaves most of the memory behind, we keep impressions, and a select pocket of knowledge, enough to kick the process up again” The Adept crossed its arms as if it had something to be proud of.
“Then why? why would you pick me, there are plenty of dying people around to pick from!” Ryan’s impatience was turning to panic, another pattern the Adept was recognizing.
“Adept’s keep impressions, we are emotional creatures, we pick people who have the feeling of those we’ve been symbiotic with before”
“So you always pick assholes?” Ryan snapped.
“No, I pick the impatient fighters; The people with more passion than sense, and in general all Adept’s pick someone who is eager to try at a new beginning…”
Ryan’s face scrunched, but he couldn’t pick the emotion to roll with, looking to the Adept like a child’s pensive frown. Ryan put his hands to his hips, stepped about a little and huffed.
“So that punch was you?” Ryan asked, breaking the silence.
“It was us, me, through you”
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“It hurt.”
“It wasn’t ideal. You aren’t even used to your body yet, let alone your spirit” The Adept pulled a grin “Did you like it?”
“No!” Ryan barked back, the Adept could feel Ryan’s true emotions surrounding the matter, but didn’t need to, reading the childish scowl on his face as liking it, and not wanting to admit it.
“In time you will feel more comfortable in your body, and connecting with your soul. Then you can start to work with me without rendering your arm useless.”
The void felt like it rumbled. Ryan looked about but returned to the conversation.
“Is that what's next for me then, now I have a new life, I meditate or something?”
“No, you live. me and you are connected now, as that becomes normal we’ll become indistinguishable from each other, then we’ll grow, like any living thing does, no meditation required. Besides, we don’t seem like the meditation type” The Adept joked.
“heh- nah I don’t think I am, couldn’t stay still in school, let alone in a monkey jungle” Ryan replied, finally loosening up to the situation. His situation was still strange and uncertain, but he had someone on his side it seemed. If the Adept meant harm to him, it could have already done so.
The void rumbled again, this time Ryan felt it, like a tremor from the ground.
“What was that?” Ryan let out in a rush.
“I don’t know, we’ve been sleeping some hours, perhaps it’s time to wake” The Adept replied.
The void rumbled again and the Adept disappeared in a shimmer.
“I’m still here, trust me if you need me” The Adept called from the void.
The void rumbled a final time, and Ryan awoke. The rumbling now was rhythmic and distant, like the stomping of a far off giant. He brushed the leaves from atop him, and lent on one of the rocks in his huddle. The jungle was lit again, not as bright as when he arrived, but lighter than when he had slept. His right arm worked again, and he felt easier moving than the day before. The Jungle in front of him was murky, smoky even, as he started to lean out from his rock to look towards the source of the tremoring, the smoke coalesced into the figure of a lightly armoured man.
“wakey wakey kid” The man waved, deformed and then reformed in front of Ryan, and gave his face some light slaps.
Ryan flailed and kicked at the man, but only struck smoke. The man coalesced again atop the rock Ryan was leaning on.
“You’ll want to be up fast kid, there’s a Hydra about and you’re sitting here sleeping on the muddy floor with your pecker out” The man quipped.
Ryan covered his shame “A Hydra? like a snake?”
“Dragon-ish, snake with legs and a fat body, lots of heads, that sorta thing” The man answered with a motive ‘so-so’ gestures. “I want you on yer feet so you can get out of the way if it thinks you look tastier than me, you a trainee or something?”
The tremors grew stronger, closer.
Ryan took to his feet and stood gripping the rock with one hand, like he would use it to launch from. “No I just got here, the smoke, is that an Adept thing?”
The man dissipated and reformed again shortly in front of Ryan, staring him in the face for an uncomfortable while. “ah-” The man took a stern look, coming to some decision. “Stay here in the rocks, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Ryan stayed on his feet gripping the rock, staring out at the source of the tremors, now just a thick screen of smoke. Bellows came from beyond the smoke, a not-quite growl not-quite moan noise which shook through Ryan almost as much as the tremors. The smoke was changing now, growing darker and with figures forming in it, seeming more substantial than mere vapour. Then a bang let out, close, and as Ryan considered bolting for the other direction, the smoke dispersed in a wave.
As the smoke passed him Ryan froze, a fat lizard, 3 stories tall and just as wide, stood what would be only a few paces away if the lizard had wanted to. Not a lizard, a Hydra. A Hydra could reach him in steps. Ryan’s heart pounded again and his eyes darted to all parts of the Hydra. He could see wounds, cuts all over, and a shape, only a grey bean to his eyes, flicking around the Hydra. It took a step closer to Ryan and he couldn’t move, he was petrified, held in place not by curse of physical force, but by fear. He could make out the bean now, it was a man, the man, the smoke coiling around the Hydra like cobwebs, the man appearing and disappearing along the webs.
“AAAAAAoooooouuuuuuh” The Hydra let out a pitiful moan, not death throes, just a moan of pain.
Ryan looking over the Hydra again and again the situation becoming clear, death by a thousand cuts. The Hydra was littered with short wounds, bleeding across dozens upon dozens of little gashes in its flesh. His senses coming to him Ryan thought to run again, pulled on the rock, made to lunge, then the Hydra’s eyes met him. Of the 6? 8? 10 heads? of the many heads Ryan could see snaking and twirling about like a mass of worms, a single head caught him in its eye, and the rest followed suit, staring him down as its body tilted towards him. Ryan, contrary to his intention, stumbled back into his huddle of rocks, back against the tallest stone. He held his breath as the creature approached step, by step.
Thud. A head dropped off to the left. Boom. Two heads to the right. Crash. More heads to the left, until there were only 3 heads remaining, its step now a hobble as it opened all 3 mouths. Smoke filled the huddle of rocks and the man appeared again. His armour's light pads a little tattered and holding an arms length single sided blade, the man kept his back to Ryan. Taking his sword in 2 hands the man turned it forwards as smoke slowly streamed out. The Hydra’s heads drew up, its stumped necks draping, as the headed necks arched up like a camels back.
The rocks around Ryan burst. The Hydra’s necks either side of him he was too afraid to feel the cuts and bruises and breaks from fragmented rock spray. Ryan’s eyes were locked in front of him, where the centre head was being pushed back by a stream of smoke, as the man began again to shift into mist. Seconds later the necks to the side of Ryan began pulling up again, and the man in front of Ryan wholly disappeared down the Hydra’s throat. The centre head closed its maw, turned its head to strike a gaze at Ryan again, turning slowly it began to open its mouth, the necks either side of Ryan stopped pulling up and shuddered, and shuddered. The head in front of Ryan approached within arms length of him, and collapsed in a cough.
Silence. Stillness. The necks beside Ryan were limp. The head before Ryan was lifeless. Over the head Ryan could see the Hydra’s body, as it ripped open from a blade, and out climbed the smoke man. Ryan, still holding his breath choked, his chest tightening as if he was winded, as he finally took a half-breath, Ryan Fainted.