The cool wind blew gently against my skin as I watched the glimmering moon fade against the dark clouds drifting aimlessly in the sky. In it's own way it was strangely beautiful, a part of me wanted to lay on the ground, stare at the sky, and wait for the days to go by. If I had to die then and there, I would be content. But, I still have something I need to do, so I can only go onward.

The world seems so much different than what I recognize, yet oddly similar in it's own ways. The constellations no longer resemble what I once remember, but they shine just as bright, and are just as numerous. The land I rode past is barren, and the creatures hostile, and strange. The plants are something I no longer recognize, and the trees are so very different.

Planets can only only sustain life for fifty billion years, so does that mean life repopulated before then, or did something drastic change it? I guess I'll never know. For some reason the days last longer then I previously remembered, how is that even possible? Luckily the air is breathable, and the world is still alive.

Occasionally I could hear loud rumbles in the sky above, at first I assumed it would be thunder, but giant shadows seem to be lurking above the clouds, and later on I could see meter long feathers floating down below. Unfortunately they were too far away for me to reach, at the very least, not in my current state.

A small sigh escaped my lips, these days that's about the only thing I ever do lately. If I'm not careful I feel it would be quite a bad habit. However aside from all these immediate issues how exactly am I going to find Zara? I only know the general directions, and seemingly it's in the sky, a mountain? Or an aircraft? Or.......

Well whatever the case, it's not like I can stop either way. Besides even if Zara is in that temporary prison, and even if she is heavily injured, shes is still a steel valkyrie of the forge.

The holy guides that recruit the souls of fallen warriors, and grant them a second life, the direct servants of the ancient twin forge deities.

I wonder if whoever took her, can handle 'the steel tyrant' Zara? Another sigh escaped my parched lips as old memories poured out.

A crying man desperately grabbing my hand, a sad woman trying to pierce my heart with a sword, a child lay dead in my arms, and the fury of men staring at me with intense hatred.

How many had died? How many tears were shed? And how many dreams, and hopes lay unfulfilled? The desires of every man, woman, and child scattered into ashes, the hopes that could never reach the future, but forever be lost in the past.

Lan calmly stared at his emaciated pale hands. These hands had gripped a friends warm shoulders, and dying cold bodies. It was drenched in warm blood, gripped cold steel, and pierced by sharp blades. Am I sad? Tired? Or depressed?

No, I'm not, things like that have long passed. But, it's what made me who I am as a person. It's simply nostalgia. How long have I lived? I've seen children grow old, and die before me. My age no longer matters, my past no longer matters, and my feelings are simply a burden. I simply don't belong here.

As I rode the cumbersome beast I could see a trail of thick black smoke moving in a procession, with a strange sentiment leaking from the mist, and the trail seemed to be several miles long. In my ears I could hear the beating for drums, the sound of trumpets, the clanking of armour, the howl of beasts, and the stern sound of men.

From the shadows of the black mist I could see outlines of humanoids in mounts, lances, and swords. As I rode alongside the thick black trail of mist, I could hear babies crying, woman screaming, and men roaring.

Wheres my mommy?

Dear? Dear! Where are you!

Daddy it hurts, I'm scared.

My lord, I will always follow you, even in death.

Thick powerful emotions, and sentiments leaked out from the trail of black mist. Lan could feel it, thousands of clashing thoughts pouring out, they grew more intense as Lan was reaching the forefront of the mist that was parallel to him.

I will shed my blood for you my king.

Please never falter.

May your path be ever glorious.

Our fates, and our hopes lie with you.

Use my body as a shield, my arms as your sword, and my life as your bridge.

Lan ignored all these thoughts leaking from the black mist, and noticed a shadow in the lead. A loud screeching could be heard, as he saw several coffins in chains being dragged forward by a lone shadow in a thick black robe.

The coffins looked to be made of a thick black metal, and he could feel powerful will in each one. The strange thing was they all remained silent, but he could sense they held strong emotions. The cloaked figure was leaking out a strange power, he felt the body contained the will of thousands. As if it's legs, and arms were being pushed forward, and held up by a collective will.

“What a strange type of magic, seems similar to a curse.”

The cloaked figure turned, and faced Lan beside him, it's glowing red eyes shined brightly, but it's face and limbs were hidden by a thick black fog. A powerful thought pierced into Lan's skull.

The sky is being blotted out by ashes, the land is aflame, and buildings in this once great city are nothing but rubble. The cries of my people drown out the sky, the mangled bodies of loved ones litter the scorched earth, and all of this is my fault.

I'm sorry my beloved wife I wanted to share our hopes, and dreams, and watched the spring leaves by your side. I'm sorry my daughter, I failed you. I wanted to watch over you as you grew older, I wanted to celebrate your birthdays that I often missed, and I wanted to tell you how much I loved you. I was a terrible husband, and a failure as a father.

Lan strengthened his will, and mind, completely cutting out the images, and thoughts invading him. He stared at the creature with clearer eyes.

“A normal person would have had his mind destroyed, you should be careful with that.”

Lan's expression remained neutral neither angry, nor hostile. He had seen many things in his life, something like this wouldn't provoke him easily.

“Hmm, I don't know if you can listen, or even understand what I'm trying to say but, do you know a way I can reach areas where people live? Or at the very least creatures that look similar to me?”

The strange creature stared at Lan for a long period before pulling out a small golden locket tied to a chain. Lan could see a skeletal hand covered in powerful runes, holding that locket. An image of a little boy hammered into his mind.

A small frown formed on his lips.

“Are you telling me to deliver this, to someone I never met, and have no idea where to find?”

The thing nodded.

“Do you know how impossible that sounds?”

The thing did not react, it only held the chain, and stared at him.

“.... I can't guarantee I'll ever find him though.”

“....”

Another sigh escaped his lips, as he took the locket.

“Just don't expect miracles.”

As soon as Lan finished this sentence, an image of a giant ancient forest surrounding a massive tower that pierced into the sky was vividly entrenched into his mind. Images of landscapes flashed instantly across his mind. From that momentary exchange, a small map was embedded into his mind.

Lan stared at the creature a bit more, and pushed the sword slightly from it's sheathe using his thumb, and calmly stared at the creature.

“Do you want release from that distorted form?”

The creature shook it's head, and pointed to a direction, before continuing it's unknown journey towards an unknown location.

Lan merely nodded, and went towards where that thing pointed towards.

After several hours of unchanging scenery he jumped off the deer, and once again lay completely on the ground. He had zero experience on mounts, and his lower body felt completely numb. Once again the deer walked up to his collapsed body, and stared at him with it's large black pupils.

Lan stared back, and mumbled, “I know, I know, but it'll be over soon.”

His fingers touched the ground, and he began to mumble an incantation. A three dimensional magic circle started to form all around him. Lan no longer cared about his surroundings, and merely slept.

The very next day he opened his eyes, and saw corpses of strange large wolves with four eyes, impaled with serrated blades all around him. He walked near one of the corpses, closed his eyes, and touched them.

“So I'll die from their meat huh, getting eaten from the inside out, by strange parasites is not a pleasant way to die.”

Lan got back up, and stared at the bright sun, and clear skies. He completely ignored the dead wolves, and continued onward to his destination. The barren black ground, slowly turned to lively brown soil, the dead leafless branches, were slowly replaced by sparse trees, covered in greenery. The lifeless scenery, slowly moved, and the sounds of insect, and birds could be heard in the distance.

The farther they moved, the denser the trees became, and more varied the foliage. Eventually a giant shadow could be seen in the distance running deep into the sky, Lan quickly jumped off the deer, and patted it on the forehead.

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“Thanks for everything.”

The deer merely nodded, and stared back at him. Lan took a few steps backward and brought out his sword, several arcs of silver flashed out in the air that shredded all constraints on the deer. With one high pitched moan the deer slowly walked away, it gave one last look at Lan before disappearing in the distance.

Along the way he examined plants, flowers, and occasionally caught small animals. It could be said this was one of the most luxurious food he had in quite awhile. His pace was slow, and casual. The goal was to conserve energy, in order to deal with any surprises along the way.

The environment started to grow unusually warm, and moist, and the dense foliage started to cover the sky, and could mess with the sense of direction. As he slowly moved forward, he noticed a cluster of leaves packed in specific areas. He took a fallen leaf into his fingers, the leaf started to grow harder, and denser, the edge of the leaf gave a metallic glint as he threw it. Like a dagger, the leaf pierced through the packed leaves, and a loud snap could be heard.

Several large wooden spikes impaled the area where the leaf was thrown. Lan raised an eyebrow slightly before returning to his usual plain expression.

Lan's blue eye started to project layers of small magic circles, he could see outlines of figures hidden in the shadows, the vibrations in the earth, the rustle of the leaves, and the shallow breathing all around him.

He could see movement in the tree tops, the blurs in the corner of his eyes, and smell unusual scent different from the plant life. He spotted a cluster of them near his left, so he slowly turned towards them, put down his sword, and tried to give a smile. He placed his posture in an passive manner in order to not incite them, and said in an slow, calm tone.

“I come in peace...”

Before he can even finish his sentence several daggers, and arrows shot forward in all direction aiming for his body. Lan stomped on the earth, and kicked up the dirt, the dirt slowly transformed into condensed rock smashing the projectiles away in a powerful torrent.

Instead of dodging, or reflecting the other attacks aimed at his back, and to his sides, he launched himself forward in a explosive burst of speed. Every pojectile was knocked from the sky by his sword, and the arrows shot at him from the back, could not even reach his body due to a strange expanding shock wave blowing all debris away.

The closer he came, the more clear the enemies became. They were humans wearing animals skin, and barely anything clothing. The weapons were made of coarse metal, and he did not sense any magic imbued in them.

“Hmm they look like the humans of this world.”

As soon as he was within a metre away, they dumped their projectiles, and took out close quarter weapons. The closest one did a horizontal slash with his dagger aiming at his chest, Lan merely grabbed the mans wrist, pulled him forward, and into the ground. He did not even glance at the fallen attacker, and continued forward.

Two men tried to slash him from the flanks using crude swords, but he only increased the acceleration forward, completely running past the swing trajectory. Five more men charged forward with spears, as Lan continued his was forward. He easily dodged each one, and jumped to a nearby tree to the side, before darting across the treetops.

When the group of spear men were about to give chase, a small glowing orb was floating near the centre of the group, as soon as it exploded a barrage of mental energy invaded the attackers, causing them to fall unconscious.

Lan knocked them from the trees, and shadows. As he continued to home in on a certain voice while darting from tree to tree, he saw a person dressed in colourful clothing, giving out orders. Without a single bit of hesitation he dove into the crowd around the one giving orders, the ball of light in his left hand exploded sending out a magic shock wave that paralyzed their bodies.

Before they could even react, Lan was standing behind the person giving orders, with his left hand casually gripping the leader's neck.

He slowly tightened his grip while whispering into the leader's ears.

“I can jut as easily kill you here, and now if you make things difficult for me. So why don't we talk this out like calm, and reasonable adults?”

The thick bearded man, that was half naked with a dark muscular body cackled loudly, while screaming at the top of his lungs in a foreign language. Within seconds of that defiant action a loud snap reverberated throughout the forest, as the man tumbled to the floor.

Lan's eyes did not show a hint of anger, hostility or sadness, it was merely calm, and placid. There was no hard expression on his face, no killing intent leaking from his body, nor domineering atmosphere coming from his presence. To him killing the man did not illicit much response, like a person at home drinking some warm water, it was merely the act of going through the day to day motions engraved in a body.

He did not feel condescension, arrogance, or even pity. It was a simple act, with an expected result. You ate food when you were hungry, killed when you were threatened, and sat down when you are tired. Even the emotions usually associated with killing was simply none existent.

In a way his presence was simply plain, uninspired, and even shallow.

He felt blood lust leaking into the atmosphere, and the presence of many others converging into the single point where he stood.

Lan stared idly at the closest figure, and sighed.

“I guess we can't talk this out anymore, right?”

The forest rumbled, and angry roars filled the atmosphere, bright lights burst from the forest, and thin black lines started to appear all across the space. Cracks appeared on trees, on the grass, and even on a small rodent passing by. Black lines, started to fracture, and expand in the air, and even in the nearby river. Like a man slashing across a realistic painting with a knife repeatedly, slowly expanding each, and every black slash, permanently etched on the painting.

Small diamond like grains leaked from the fissures, images distorted, trees bent, and finally it all shattered. Like glass fragments that constructed the scenery fell apart, and came tumbling down. The scenery filled with trees, animals, and angry men all disappeared, all that was left was a scene of pitch black.

Lan walked across the bodies of the fallen men, their eyeballs lost focus, and drool leaked form their mouths. Not a single wound appeared on any of the fallen men, the violent atmosphere was now serene, and calm. All that could be heard was the soft whistling of the winds, and the rustling of leaves.

As he started to survey the surroundings, he felt a subtle pressure above, without a seconds delay he jumped back ward. At first leaves came floating down, then branches, then a giant shadow smashed into the ground, sending dirt, and dust flying.

The massive bird stretched several metres, long, and nearly twice as wide judging from wing length. The large brown feathers floated all over the scenery, as the giant bird which resembled a peacock lay collapsed in front of him.

Lan idly stared at the dead beast in stunned silence, in his stomach a loud rumble could be heard.

In less than an hour a roaring flame was made, the feathers, intestines, and inedible object were removed, and buried. Lan currently held a blade of grass, as he casually cut apart the neck, claws, and legs.

The small chunks he cut off were skewered with wooden spikes carved from appropriate branches, and placed above the fire. The glistening fat dripped from the charring meat into the fire, causing a slight hissing sound, the strong aroma of roasted bird wafted into the air.

Lan was carefully eyeing the meat, so it would not be too burnt, and his sword was casually leaning on a nearby tree to his side. Just as the bird looked to be well done, with golden crisp skin, and greasy liquid dripping down, a thin mist leaked out from the forest around him.

The mist looked like small frail strands, that grew thicker over time, and eventually surrounded the entire space around him. Lan's eye did not blink nor even move, he continued to rotate the meat, and focus on the roasting. The mist converged into a spot directly opposite to him, revealing a hazy shadow.

Lan gave the shadow a brief glance, before turning his eyes on the bird meat.

“Took you awhile to show up huh?

A soft gentle whisper lingered in his ears.

“You noticed me?”

“You could say that.”

“It is strange to find a person wandering the land, are you an exile?”

“..... Yea, that word seems to fit me.”

“How pitiful, the earthbound truly are pitiful.”

“.... Is a tower near here?”

“Of course, the towers stands here for eternity.”

“Am I allowed to enter it?”

“What a silly question, all are welcome, if you can make it to the top that is.”

“The way you phrased it, care to explain?”

The shadow disappeared, and did not even bother answering the question. The mist slowly grew thinner, until it dissipated.

Lan's placid expression revealed a slight frown, as he noticed a missing chunk of meat.

“That guy took the best part..............”

Comments: Got bored so I changed the style for this chap for a bit.