Silas was familiar with the route to the Mayor’s Estate. Ironside was divided into two main layers, the upper and lower city. Built into a cliffside, the very top of the city was the only way to leave. There, the Church reigned supreme, spreading their faith to the poorest of Ironside’s residents. The city generally got more and more wealthy as you got closer to the sea, ending with the Garrison and the Mayor’s Estate at the very bottom.
His workshop, the Golden Gun, was about two thirds of the way down. That’s why he knew that between the Orphanage and just his Workshop was a massive amount of urban sprawl and residential areas.
The trip was too long to make relying on one instance of blood energy- which means they’d have to find several resting spots in between, each one making them vulnerable to attack or tracking. He lived in between the two places so his residence would work. He knew there would be no mutants there.
Breaking into unknown buildings to rest, though, wasn’t nearly as good an idea. They could only put faith in their luck and the Director’s apparent strength. While Silas’ senses and reflexes were enhanced, the rest of his body was not. The trip would be difficult for him, let alone the kids..
“Are you wondering why I decided as such?” The Director spoke as he ate what food was left in the pantry, using it to quickly recover his spent blood energy. Silas just nodded his head in silence.
“The Church of the Iron Crown, as with the others, has been in decline since the rise of the Sanguine Emperor. Empyreans proved that people did not need the Gods, and faith has waned.” The Director sighed, wiping the dust and gore from his cane. “Disaster breeds faith like none other. The Church will take their chance to convert all remaining survivors and wipe out all remaining Empyreans.”
‘But wouldn’t that be-”
“A crime? Yes. But this is Ebelor. The Mist disrupts communication between cities. So long as they ensure no survivors leave, they can blame it all on the mutants.”
“Can’t we negotiate? I’m sure our numbers are high enough..” Glass stood from his seat, the ethereal blood light washing over his wounds and forcing them shut.
“We could. But that requires sufficient strength. With the Mayor and Old Isaac around, we might have a chance, but the Pastor isn’t weaker than either of them. The mutants aren’t weak, either.”
The building entered an abnormal stillness as the adults sat around the table recuperating while the surviving children packed their meagre belongings. Caisus might have had the smallest bag of them all, its only contents being two framed pictures and a toy gun. The first was a picture of the Director with all the kids, taken right before Silas and Sebastian aged out but a few months after Glass did.
Looking at the second picture, Silas sunk into his thoughts. Two men stood next to Caisus. On the left, Silas stood with his black hair hung in a loose, low ponytail. His eyes bright, two slightly different shades of blue. Wearing his father’s glasses and his usual leather overcoat over a brown vest, white linen shirt and black trousers.
On the right, Sebastian stood slightly taller with a cheerful smile. His eyes were a deep blue with short, ruffled hair, wearing almost the exact same outfit as Silas, with the exception of the overcoat and a black vest instead. Caisus stood between them, wearing a child sized copy of the exact same outfit. Silas couldn’t help but laugh remembering how the boy begged to look just like them for the photo. It was taken on the day the two actually moved out.
[Your foundation has stabilised]
[Nightmare Seed has reached the Nascent Stage]
An abrupt clarity washed over his mind as the Nightmare Seed within his consciousness solidified slightly. His vision sharpened and his hearing magnified even moreso. A wry smile forced its way onto his face as he realised he had been neglecting this ‘Nightweaver’ thing.
Quickly using Ascension Lotus’s method to ask questions, he shortly received several pieces of information it had apparently gathered from the Nightweaver Legacy that Erebus gave him, the purple black hawk tattoo.
[You are in Fear Refinement]
[Fear Refinement consists of the Nascent, Adolescent, Mature and Cracked Stages]
[You must reach Soul Opening]
How do I do that? Silas groaned inwardly as the Lotus grew silent once again. He hadn’t thought much about this thing’s existence either. Was it benevolent? Was it not? What were its rules? Could he enter at any time?
[Yes. You may. For every day you spend inside the space, a minute passes outside]
‘Can I heal inside?
[No. Time passes extremely slowly within the space]
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
‘Could I bring other people?’
[No]
‘Can I bring things out?’
[You are allowed to bring out Shop Items and Remembrances]
With the exception of just what the shop items were and what Remembrances are, Silas heaved a sigh of relief at the concise answers. He had a vague idea at what the Lotus allowed him to do, something he’d have to figure out the specifics for himself later. The real issue was that mission. Was it the only one? Would he have more? If so, when? Were more people picked?
[Every half a year, a mission will be chosen for you based on your strength. You can also elect to take a mission for yourself at any time. This will reset the time remaining. Other Wayfinders have been chosen upon the same criteria.]
Criteria? Right. It said he had an innate talent in his Reflection, one he apparently unlocked shortly after. Was that part of the criteria? What was his talent? The blue light?
His eyes suddenly flashed bright blue, overshadowing their own differing shades overwhelmed by it. Silas’ mind calmed and the Nightmare Seed rotated faster, drawing in more mental energies. With every wave of the blue light over the Nightmare Seed, it seemed purer. Darker. After the third wave the blue light dimmed and he felt exhausted.
[Innate Talent Evaluated: Cleanse]
[Ability: Purify Soul Energies]
With a deep breath, the cleansing light flowed back into its place within his ‘mind’ gently stirred beneath the Nightmare Seed, its presence passively purifying it over time. It lit up his blank mind, illuminating the small specks of light seemingly flowing towards the Seed from the nothingness.
Was this talent the criteria? A pale smile washed over his face as Silas relaxed in his seat, some small questions finally answered. Sebastian didn’t have something to brag about now, did he? Silas stowed the thoughts of his brother away for a better time, drumming up the will to keep going briefly.
Sparing a hand to ruffle the boy’s hair, Silas placed the picture back into Caisus’ rucksack. One of the older girls crouched down low to let Caisus jump onto her back. Caisus insisted on staying with Silas, but that couldn’t happen.
“You two boys will do the fighting. I’ll make sure the kids remain unharmed. If you can’t handle it, bring them into my range. Understood?” The Director bounced his cane against the floor with a hard thud, eliciting a couple nervous nods.
Silas nodded, gripping Glass’ revolver tight. He hadn’t even thought of fighting back there. Bullets had proven to work against those things and he had plenty, yet he just left Glass to fend for himself. If the Director wasn’t so strong..
He took a deep breath, checking the bullets once more and adjusting the knife at his side. He couldn’t afford to run. Not this time. The System might say he’s just a mortal, but he’s still got something neither of these two Empyreans have. He’s a Nightweaver, right? That means he can do something.
The Nightmare Seed pulsed once more within his mind and he felt a distinct, familiar calm wash over him. His fear drained away and his eyes shone bright as his shaking stopped. The Director glanced over briefly before going back to getting the kids ready.
Half an hour later, the old man decided it was time to head out. Glass and Silas would walk about fifteen feet in front while the kids would form a group around the Director. They would be leaving with a total of 25 in their group.
Soft orange light still threatened to break through the fog, allowing the party to see the rooftops of the houses alongside the road. Silas even noticed dull orange glows emanating from some second story windows that were previously dark. His shoulders shook but the grip on his Revolver only grew tighter.
Resolving himself to the fact he can’t help everyone, he stepped over the myriad corpses littering the street, making it a point to avoid stepping in the pools of blood. The kids screamed out in fear, only for them to immediately grow silent as the Nightmare Seed fluctuated.
Unaware of its strange movements, Silas kept an eye out on the fog. Minutes passed by without a sound, slowly descending deeper into Ironside’s depths. The street began to incline, the bodies often wrapped around objects that prevented them from running downhill.
The soft creak broke the silence of the street as a man appeared in the vague shadow of his house door. His clothes were slightly torn and the lamp in his hand was burning low. Silas could see its fuel running empty. He didn’t miss how the man’s face went from hesitant to overjoyed, scarcely illuminated by the light. “Survivors? Please, take me with you!”
Silas’ eyes narrowed and his hand shot up, aiming the reolver’s barrel straight at the man. Before the survivor could even register what was happening, the wind howled out and his figure suddenly burst with blood and fell limp. Silas felt a few drops of blood land on his face, just beneath his eyes.
He barely restrained himself from pulling the trigger as the group stopped in place. Silas caught sight of a grey figure running through the fog, blending into its dull grey colour. It ran through the stranger with such force that the man was dead before he realised his spine had been ripped out.
The stranger’s dead, piercing gaze stared straight into Silas’ eyes but he couldn’t afford to care. With a curt nod, Glass let him know he saw it too. Then, the duo silently surveyed the area around them. He watched as the stranger’s lamp slowly rolled down the hill before fading off into the fog, rattling all the way down.
Was the man attacked because he was too loud? The lamp didn’t attract any attention and neither had their group's footsteps. But what exactly was too loud?
Glass unhooked a small metal canister from his belt before tossing it towards the man’s corpse. It hit the street with a metallic ring and Silas held his arm still, waiting for the Mutant to appear.
Nothing.
Silas looked back over at the young Empyrean, about to signal for them to keep moving when he saw a creature standing behind Glass, towering over him with its long limbs. Well over eight feet tall, its limbs hung close to the ground, the nails threatening to cut into the cobblestone. Its gaping maw breathed heavily, hanging over Glass’ head as he did his best to stay still. The mutant’s eyes were glassy and dark.
He could see as the creature’s drool landed on Glass’ shaking face. He watched the figure crouch as he slowly turned his firearm towards it. He watched Glass slowly look at him as the revolver lined itself up with the creature.
The sound of a cane bouncing against the stone startled the mutant and everyone abruptly sprang into action. Silas shot the creature in the neck as Glass crouched down and slashed at the creature's legs with one swift movement. The mutant roared out as Silas fired again, his bullet blowing the creature’s left arm off. Its dull eyes stared at the revolver in his hand as it fell to its knees, where Glass thrust his sword forward and pierced through its skull.
As the mutant fell to the ground with a heavy crash, the duo let out their bated breath. That was very different from the previous mutants they had met. If there were any more nearby, he’d already have been killed by the gunfire. That being said, nothing states there wouldn’t be any more of them on the way.
From here on out, silence was mandatory.