So far during their journey together, they hadn’t run into any banespawn. But while fortunate to not run into any combative encounters, they had other issues to worry about. Their supplies were beginning to dwindle to a severe degree forcing him to remain hungry day in and day out.
His stomach made terrifying sounds. It cried out in anguish begging for him to partake of the few remaining bits of food that they had stowed away. It continued to rumble loudly enough that even Silvy could hear it as she sat behind him on the horse.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat just a little bit of something?”
“I’m sure,” he said.
Kiran was not like Silvy. He could go without eating for an abnormally long period of time and not die. That did not mean he didn’t feel hungry which always forced him to imagine all of the most amazing and tasty foods imaginable. That only ever made things worse so he tried to not think of delicious food since he knew he wasn’t going to have any for a while.
If it got too unbearable, he supposed he could eat a little bit of the food that they had. But the more of it he consumed, the less she would have access to. I can make it. I’ve done it before. I can do it again. His stomach grumbled again. Or can I?
If he could live without eating so she wouldn’t have to starve, well, he made peace with the fact that he would experience hunger if it meant she didn’t.
“I guess if we ever run into a banespawn and end up killing one, we could always eat it.”
The thought of eating one of those ghastly creatures rid him of his hunger temporarily. “I’m not about to start eating monster flesh.”
“We can’t afford to be picky out here. Besides, who knows, maybe they actually don’t taste so bad.”
It didn’t matter how possibly right she was. He’d rather go hungry than eat from a nasty monster even if it did somehow taste good.
“Picky eaters aren’t long for this world you know,” she said poking him in the back.
“A man’s got to have standards.”
“What, and women don’t? If anything you’re the one who shouldn’t have standards.”
His horse stopped for a moment as they reached an edge of a cliff. He directed the horse towards their right to lead them down it so they could keep carrying on towards the east.
Something landed on his face. He swatted it away and it thankfully flew away.
“You should’ve grabbed whatever that thing was and eaten it.”
“Find me a chicken and I’ll eat that. Otherwise, I’m good.”
“Do chickens even exist here in this domain?”
“There’s got to be some somewhere.”
“Haven’t seen one yet though have you?”
“Not yet anyways.”
His stomach growled yet again. Will you quit it already?
Since their journey from the encampment full of survivors, most of the terrain they journeyed through since then was flat, dry, and bare. Sometimes they’d cross through what otherwise would’ve been a flourishing forest and maybe find a pond that had seen better days. But other than that, there was little variety in what they came across.
“Say, Kiran.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been wondering for a while how it is that you always seem so calm and relatively light-hearted. Especially considering everything.”
“I suppose it’s just the way I am.”
“You suppose, huh.” She chuckled briefly. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you. When I was serving the queen, everyone around me took things so seriously. There was hardly anyone who was actually joyful or capable of laughing. It was like being stuck in the dullest prison imaginable where joy itself was completely purged from existence. I am somewhat envious that you’re able to at least from what I can tell, remain somewhat joyous.”
“If you had known my past young self, you would think I was an entirely different person.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes. When I was a teenager, I was quite the opposite.” He had yet to remember all of his past experiences as a young person from his previous life and yet, the few memories he did recall from back then gave insight into how he was. He possessed the dour temperament of a young teenager who en-wrapped themselves in hardly anything other than negativity. It was quite the contrast to how he was nowadays. “My older sister,” he went on to say, “told me one time to be at peace with my circumstances and to not become so embroiled with all of the bad things that may come my way. I of course did not follow her words immediately, but I believe she likely in some way had directed me towards my current temperament even if it took longer than she might’ve ever hoped for.”
“Your sister sounds like she was perhaps a bit wise.”
“And I of course was nothing of the sort. In fact, I believe I was likely a nuisance and burden for her.”
“I’m sure if you had asked her, she wouldn’t have thought that,” Silvy said. “What came of her if I may ask?”
“She was killed by a group of familiars who chose for one reason or another to murder us all.”
“That’s terrible. I’m sorry that happened.”
“Of all that I recall of it, it was quite horrible indeed. Although, I am far removed from the event itself. In many ways, it feels like it never really happened to me and instead, I am nothing more than a mere observer of somebody else’s life.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Those moments, while being his own past experiences, were much more like gazing into the life of a stranger. Tragic moments from that perspective were rarely as potent or strong as they were for the actual person experiencing them at the moment as they happened. Many of those memories were still quite potent and visceral, but there was still a lacking connection to them that made them feel hollow at the same time.
In many ways, the memory of Della’s unjust murder hurt far more. It was a more recent thing of course which likely played some role in that admittedly. But at the end of the day, it just simply felt more real to him as all of his recent experiences in this new life of his did.
“Well I must say,” she said, “I believe your positivity has managed to spread onto me.”
Much like negativity, positivity too could be spread from person to person. It was in many ways like a disease. At least in his mind, they needed to be careful about channeling negative energy, especially in a domain as dire as this one.
The darkness of the fourth domain was truly unending. It existed everywhere and overwhelmed their sight at all times. Light was an anomaly and something that could get you killed if used at the wrong moment. The only times he ever saw light besides occasionally having a campfire for themselves carefully hidden away was back in Lady Meredith’s territory at Cairn and some of the villages he wandered by.
While spotting light out in the distance was quite the rarity, from far away, the tiniest flicker of light began to appear for them. His enhanced vision could make it out quite well even though he doubted he needed the potion to help him spot it. It also appeared that this light hovered far up into the sky rather than on the ground as he might come to expect.
Not knowing what might be producing this light, they carefully strode towards it to investigate. Their surroundings began to shift from the flat barren dry landscape, towards a more city-like environment. They began to walk along a cobbled pathway with dilapidated buildings from their right and to their left. Aura-infused street lamps appeared as well looking unused for quite a long time.
There was nary a sound to be heard besides the footsteps from their horse. Neither Kiran nor Silvy made a sound themselves. He kept his eyes fully opened trying to make out anything that might try to harm them.
He kept his hand at the hilt of his sheathed sword that dangled at his hip. The environment became more city-like as they went further in. Dead foliage covered the walls of buildings and dry grasses came out of the cracked surfaces all around.
Unlike Cairn or the villages, this city appeared like the kind of city he had glimpses of from his past life. It was more advanced and from a time that no longer existed. It was somewhat sad and depressing knowing that once upon a time, immense life filled this place.
Silvy’s arms that were wrapped around him tightened as they rode along the city street. Though he had not noticed immediately, he could tell her subtle breathing quickened.
They were both armed and experienced enough to defend themselves to a proficient degree, but they were only human and neither were they capable of performing magic currently. She had even told him earlier that her sword no longer would burst aflame which weakened her own fighting capabilities.
The source of the light grew brighter and more noticeable as it was incredibly high up. It definitely came from a tower acting like a beacon.
He began to notice something else though as subtle of a feeling as it was. He began to feel a presence that he thought might be Lar.
Are you there Lar?
There was no response. He did feel like it was them that he could sense. If it was in fact them, he figured they were still too far away to communicate telepathically. It made him more sure of their decision to bravely wander into this place to investigate the source of the light, especially if it meant that Lar was somewhere in this dark city.
After they made their way further in, Kiran tied the horse up around an inactive aura-infused street lamp just to ensure they wouldn’t run off as they chose to rest somewhere nearby after their long ride. They sheltered a block away in an abandoned small structure that at least had four walls, a floor, and a roof to keep any potential rain off of them.
Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve once seen any rain here in this domain yet. Is that too an absent natural phenomenon in this domain?
He unsheathed his sword and kept it at the ready. He looked out the windowless window to gaze out towards the street.
“See anything?”
“I can’t see a thing out there,” he said sadly as his potion wore off. He looked over to where he thought Silvy was finding himself increasingly unable to even see her inside. “Where are you?”
“I’m over here.” Even when his eyes drifted towards her position in the small building, she was practically invisible.
“Well,” he said walking over towards wherever she was. He carefully motioned over and lifted his heel to try to find her. His boot managed to hit up against some squishy flesh.
“Hey, watch it over there.”
“Sorry.” He sat down next to her and lay his sword down by his right side. “We might as well get some rest before we go further in. You up for the first shift?”
“I guess so. Just try not to snore like you did last night, alright? I’m fairly certain you’ll alert the entirety of this city if you do.”
He lay himself down on the harsh stone floor and closed his eyes not finding his view any different than when they were open. “I wish I had control over that. I don’t unfortunately.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. Make every excuse you can.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” he began to say and smiled. “But you snore too.”
“I do not.”
“Trust me, you do.”
She did in fact snore. He had witnessed it himself several times. Although it was relatively quiet and brief when it had occurred several times.
He took in a deep breath and blew air out. He felt his consciousness slip away slowly until the state of sleep embraced him.
“Kiran.” A voice whispered to him. “Kiran,” they said again, this time more loudly although still in a whisper tone. “Wake up. Something’s outside.”
He grasped onto the hilt of his sword and carefully lifted his body up to his two feet in a way that it wouldn’t make even the slightest bit of noise. As he drifted over towards the window, he tried to see if anything was out there. It was too dark out there for him to see so he went and grabbed the leather bag full of sight enhancement potions, and then drank one. The darkness began to subside and he could make more things out as he gazed out the window once more.
Towards the direction of the horse, he thought he could see some kind of motion. The horse neighed and a terrifying noise erupted from their mouth. Their screams sent chills down his spine. The anguish from the horse was ghastly and disturbing in more ways than he could make sense of.
His skin crawled just having to listen to their continual pained screams as something kept attacking it. Though he couldn’t make them out perfectly, they weren’t giant like the feral banespawn he had encountered previously.
Figuring that he could take them, Kiran exited the building they sheltered in and rushed over towards the horse. He slowly approached the horse that did not make any further noises as it lay completely dead on the ground with blood spilling out of it to cover the dark city street.
His feet motioned quietly along the cobbled ground trying to not startle whatever chose to do this to their beloved horse that he was meant to eventually give back to Lady Meredith. That’s an impossibility now, but that’s the least of my concerns right now. Whatever feasted upon the horse, did so in an obvious way. He could make something out hanging over on top of it, but he wasn’t close enough yet to fully comprehend what this thing was. Whatever it was, they were having the time of their life.
They feasted upon their horse having their way with it as they dug their hands into its flesh.
The sound of liquid spilling out and splattering around penetrated through his ears. When he got close enough, he raised his sword and saw the ghastly feminine humanoid creature look up with its black beady eyes and long stringy black hair running down its shoulders and back.
The pale naked creature immediately dashed away further into the darkness running down an adjacent alleyway leaving the bloodied horse corpse behind. Oh great. It wants me to chase it, eh? Fine then. Have it your way.