Chapter 21: CHAPTER 0 – First Blood, Innocence and Consequence

Darkness, is that what you see before you first open your eyes? He didn’t realize he had eyes, let alone know they were shut. Not until whatever he had seen before opening them was dispelled by pervasive Light. It was uncomfortable, and he much preferred whatever was there before the light cut in.

Warmth surrounded him. He couldn’t know it’s value, it was there before he was. He didn’t realize it existed until he was pulled from it. Cold. It replaced the warmth, which was instantly missed. Something equally warm had torn him from his warm place; and pulling him through cold air, placed him on a cold surface. They had just met, and already he did not like the cold.

Red. He examined his appendage, only then realizing what it was he had been moving. Red flowed down his arm. It was warm, and he liked the warmth. Rediscovering warmth made him smile, and he projected an excited noise in response.

Loud. He could hear sharp sounds from all around him. He couldn’t hear his own noise over the rest, so he made his noise again. Louder and louder he made his noise, until he sufficiently made it comparable with the volume of the sounds around him. So loud were they that he could almost feel them reverberating in his chest.

The cold surface he had been sat on moved ever so slightly. Something had been set next to him. It looked like his arm, silvery and covered in red. He made his noise at that something, which reacted with surprise. 

Whatever had placed that something on the surface near him turned away after it sat that something down, but remained close. It was the same warm thing that pulled him from his warm place, only to set him down on the cold surface. Wanting to be warm again, he again made his noise. Not getting the response he desired, he made his noise yet again, but this time with more volume stemming from his urgency. He really didn’t like the cold.

Relief. It reverberated through him when the one that stole him from his warmth turned back to him. Pleased, he made his noise once more, this time with less urgency and more of something else, as gratitude had altered it ever so slightly. He wanted to make his noise again when the one that took him from his warmth, grabbed his arm. That one was warm, and he wanted to extend more gratitude to it!

Before he could make his noise, the one who took him from his warmth shoved a needle into his arm. Pain. This was almost as bad as the cold, but it was already gone before he could adjust his noise accordingly. He grabbed his arm where he had been stabbed. He made his noise again, this time it lacked any semblance of gratitude. 

Surprise. The warmth grabbed him again. Still this excited him, he liked the warmth; but this time it was tainted with distrust. Last time, this warmth brought pain; and while he really appreciated warmth, he wasn’t so fond of pain. Rejection. The warmth pressed something into his arm again, again he had been stabbed! He yanked his arm away from the warmth.

He made his noise again, this time he was offended. He wanted warmth, sure, but wasn’t as sure how much he wanted it when it brought pain along. Force. Against his will, the warmth grabbed him and quickly shoved another needle into his arm. Anger. He made his noise again, this time attempting to express his rapidly growing discontent.

He was stunned. He was perplexed. He was cold, and he didn’t like it. He had been stabbed, several times no less; even after he tried passing on his distaste for it. His tension was building. He felt something welling up in his chest. He forgot about it when the warmth grabbed him again.

Intolerance. He pulled away. He wasn’t going to get stabbed again! He was starting to wonder if he wouldn’t just rather be cold when the warmth latched onto his arm and stabbed him once more. Outrage. Whatever was welling up in his chest made itself known. It wasn’t warm anymore, now it was raw heat. The warmth grabbed him again.

Hatred. He had an expectation for what would happen when the warmth grabbed him this time. This time he made more than noise. The heat that welled up within him expanded, and he focused it into the warmth that grabbed him. He was quickly released. The heat, however, remained within him.

Hot. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this, it was better than being cold. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t completely comfortable either. He yearned for warmth, no more and no less. He couldn’t have it though, and was forced to choose between hot and cold. He wasn’t about to choose cold.

More noise. It wasn’t his, either. The one that had pulled him from his warm place, that had stabbed him repeatedly, that he made aware of his unwillingness to be stabbed, collapsed to the floor. All movement around him ceased. There was a short pause before panic set in, and the area was vacated.

He made his noise again and again, louder and louder, in vindication from conquering that which had torn him from his warm place and stabbed him. They all knew not to repeat such a mistake.

 

“David!” She called out after him. She knew it was futile, but couldn’t help herself. 

“You know I have to, Julia. I’m pretty sure we only get this one chance.” David replied as he reached up and removed his glasses. 

“No you don’t! We’ll figure something else out, there has to be another way; and we’ll find it, together!” Julia appealed to his sense of reason. She knew this was futile too. David’s determination was something she loved him for.

“I… We have the ability to help them. A responsibility. A duty.” His hands trembled, causing him to lose his grip on his glasses as they fell to the floor, shattering.

“You have a duty to take care of your daughter!” Julia almost screamed at him, wounded by own futility.

“And I have a duty to my Grandchildren, and their children after them.” David countered, rediscovering his resolve. He turned to his wife, threw his arms around her and dragging her to himself, he pressed his lips against her.

For a moment, time slowed down as fear was deleted from his being. The background noise fell away, a concert of numerous alarms along with a choir of screams, both human and not; faded into silence as his trembling heart latched onto love. 

The world slipped away as she was crushed. The man she loved squeezed her tightly, then left her empty and hollowed out as he turned away from her and towards the screaming, bent on somehow extracting hope from hell.

He took a deep breath as he produced a deck of cards and selected one with a sigil already engraved into it. Then with the hand holding the card, he lifted up his ID from around his neck. Attached to it was a small, silver orb. “Shield!” He commanded as a bubble sprang forth around him, then condensed and conformed to his shape. He dropped his ID and returned the cards to his pocket, then prepared to meet his destiny.

He threw one leg in front of the other, he felt something being slid into his back pocket and heard Julia cry out from behind him, “Unburden!” as gravity relaxed it’s hold on him. He ran straight and true. He couldn’t turn back and see her crumple to the floor, lest it waver his resolve.

Rounding the corner, a hellish sight unfolded before him. There were bodies lying still on the floor, he couldn’t tell if they were alive or not though. Two quicksilver newborns peered anxiously at him, one sparked with electricity. Some nearby electrical equipment had caught fire, vomiting forth black smoke and filling his nose with the odor of burning plastic.

First to a workstation, he stabbed his finger at the keyboard a few times to silence the alarms, most of them were about the condition of the woman who had just given birth. He couldn’t do anything about the fire alarm from there, and it continued to scream out at him.

The woman lying on the gurney gasped for breath. David rushed to her side. Taking her hand, he called out, “Linley? Are you still with us?” Her abdomen was still cut open from the cesarean section she had just went through, but before it could be patched up, disaster had struck.

“David?” Linley called out his name as she fought for breath, ghostly pale. 

“Oh, God, Linley. I’m here, I’m right here.” David choked out, squeezing her hand as if maybe he could keep her from going.

“My sons… where are my sons…” Linley soldiered on, just trying to fill her lungs.

“There alive! They’re… incredible. They attempted to draw blood, and the child… But don’t worry about them. Linley-” David tried explaining her situation to the best of his ability.

“Bring them to me!” Linley demanded before battling for more breath.

“Linley-” David started, eyes full of doubt and sorrow.

“They have to be held by their mother! If it’s the only thing I can give them, I have to give them that!” Linley begged, somehow losing more color.

David didn’t hesitate. A tear rolled down his cheek as he hurried to the silver newborns. “You first!” He stated, lifting up the one not shooting sparks between his fingers. He quickly returned, announcing, “This is your momma! She’s given up quite a bit to bring you into this world.” Placing the silver infant in his mother’s arms.

“Devose!” Linley gasped out, ceasing her battle and smiling serenely. “My baby boy.” Both pride and love vied for dominance in her voice.

David hurried back to the remaining child. As he approached, electricity started arcing between the infant’s fingers, who almost glared up at him as it let out a warning chirp.

“You want to meet your momma?” David pleaded with him.

Cekell was surprised. This was the first time someone had approached him with words. David reached down slowly to grab him. Not wanting this, Cekell felt the heat in his chest rise. David didn’t notice as he picked Cekell up and turned.

Cekell was grabbed, and yet he was not touched. He didn’t feel the warmth of a hand, and he could not transfer his energy. It took him a moment to realize there was something between them, and wasn’t sure what to make of it. He didn’t want to be in his current situation, and amped up his energy.

David hesitated, “Oh God, Linley!” He shouted at the silent woman that was smiling with eyes still open and full of adoration, lying still as the grave as she clutched her curled up and content child. 

Maybe if he hadn’t hesitated. Maybe if his warmth had penetrated his barrier. Maybe if he had grabbed Cekell first. But he didn’t, he gave Cekell time to try harder; and Cekell overwhelmed his barrier, sending forth a wave of energy that knocked the man from his feet.

Cekell fell with him and landed on the cold floor, underneath the man that had been holding him. He immediately wondered if he wasn’t better off a moment ago. Now that the barrier was gone, he could feel the warmth of the man… and the cold of the floor he was pinned against.

“David!” Julia cried out, rushing to his side. “David, what happened?!” She pleaded with the still man as she shook him. He remained silent as he lay prone. It was when she tried to flip him over, sliding a hand underneath him, that she came in contact with Cekell. She fell limp on top of her husband. 

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Cekell felt something brushed up against him. Maybe if he had seen her coming. Maybe if she had given him a moment to think. Maybe if she had erected a barrier. But she didn’t, and Cekell panicked when she touched him.

Another weight fell on top of him. He lay there, pressed between warmth and cold. It didn’t take him very long to decide he liked warmth better, even if it came with needles. Maybe he could even get some more warmth that lacked pain. He slowly crawled out from under the warmth, he had to get away from the cold floor.

Pulling himself out from under the pile, he climbed up to his four feet, and attempted to get a better grasp of his situation. That was when he noticed the man staring down at him as though he had just found the monster that murdered his wife.

Looking down, all he could see was a beast. A man made creation. An abomination. Not for one instant was it ever perceived as his son. It was the monster that cost him the life of his wife. It had all happened so fast. Linley was only three months into her pregnancy. They had been warned that this most likely wouldn’t be carried to a normal term, but he had been in a meeting; and in fifteen short minutes, Linley went from happy mother to be with a desperate craving for pickles, to cold and departed. 

Her body hadn’t had time to prepare for giving birth, so the doctors quickly determined a cesarean section would be necessary. The doctor tending to the infants tried to draw blood, and his heart was shocked into cardiac arrest. It wasn’t until the physician that was supposed to be sewing Linley up paused to check on the newborn monsters that it became apparent one of them was the cause; and as another person interacting with them hit the floor, panic and chaos ensued. Some of the electronic equipment had been shocked and caught fire.

Even a couple researchers that were only there for the project intervened to try and help, only to be struck down themselves. Minutes old, and already it had claimed four lives; and that’s not counting the life of his mother, that was lost because of his actions. 

Kade couldn’t breath when he saw it crawl out from under a couple lifeless bodies and stand up on all fours like some beast. The entirety of his body locked up as anguish and disgust transformed into wrath. His heart forgot to beat as ice ran through his veins. It’s almost surprising Cekell felt warmth when Kade stiffly bent down and lifted him up by wrapping his hand around the back of his neck. 

Still expecting to get stabbed in the arm, but thankful to be pulled away from the cold floor; Cekell attempted to make a gracious yet suspicious noise, but it was muffled as Kade was holding him in an awkward position.

Without a word, Kade turned and headed out of the room. “Sir!” One of the officers that had been following called out to him, “Where are you going.”

“To retrieve the Point.” Kade answered coldly. Cekell looked up at him and smiled, as he had found some warmth that seemingly came free of charge. Kade didn’t notice as he refused to look at the creature.

“But Sir, should we not wait for contact from Verakry?” The officer asked, concerned.

Kade stopped and turned towards the man, “Correct me if I am wrong, but he wanted both Points in a single body.” He paused to get the man a chance to reply, who only nodded in affirmation. “Are they both in a single body?” Kade asked, his voice carrying more than aggravation as he held onto all of his animosity. He was saving that for something else. 

“No, Sir, they are not both in a single body.” The officer answered reluctantly.

“Then I shall go and retrieve one of them, and we can attempt to rectify that. Have all this…” Kade started as he looked his personnel on the floor up to his wife. His heart writhed once more as something else took root in the center of his being. “Cleaned up.” He finished, as he turned away.

Cekell relaxed in Kade’s hand. It was warm, and it hadn’t yet hurt him. Looking up at the man that had taken him away from the cold floor, he again tried to squeak out in gratitude, this time without fear of getting a needle in his arm, but Kade’s grip wasn’t gentle, and all Cekell managed was a gurgle of gratitude.

Kade remained silent as he calmly walked to another medical room and set Cekell down on a cold examination table, and turned to find something. Cekell’s eyes went wide when he touched the cold table, and didn’t know what to do when the warm hand of his father’s was pulled away. With urgency, he let out a noise expressing his panic.

Kade’s hand wasn’t gone long. He was quick to find a scalpel and turn back to the little monster, and moved to extract the Astral Point. Cekell reached up excited to receive his warm hand and let out a noise as if to say ‘please and thank you’ at the same time.

Kade pressed down with his wrist to hold Cekell in place, squeezing an appreciative squeak out of the silver creature that started to wrap it’s tendril around his arm. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before all in one motion burying the end of the scalpel deep into the left side of Cekell’s chest, swiftly sliding it down and quickly shoving two fingers into the incision with the intention of tearing out his heart. He did not try to disguise his malice as he buried it into the child.

Cekell was more than surprised and barely managed to cry out in pain before the object in his chest got searing hot, prompting Kade to flinch back in pain as he had just touched the glowing hot Astral Point, recoiling his arm before Cekell could retaliate. The lights in the room flickered as Cekell crackled with enough energy to levitate himself up into the air. Liquid silver ran down his body and started dripping onto the table. Kade stepped back, clutching the scalpel like a knife. Before either could react, Verakry appeared out of nowhere.

With a resounding voice, Verakry boomed , “Kade! I can feel the Astral Point stirring! Tell me, has there been a development?” Before taking stock of the situation around itself. Taking notice of Cekell floating a ways before Kade, and finished with, “Incredible! And it has a will of its own? You humans truly are industrious, I must admit.” 

Kade stepped away from Cekell, and both of them shifted their focus to the shadow enshrouded Verakry. “I’m afraid you’re getting ahead of yourself. That’s just one of them. The embryo split, we had twins, and each of them got a Point. We didn’t manage to get them both in a single body.”

“Maybe not, but this is more than a start! We are still not even certain there is a conduit capable of connecting the Astral and Umbral Points. Even if it was only for a moment, even though they didn’t so much as twitch; they were undoubtedly both in your wife, before she gave birth. There are any number of adjustments we can make before we try again, and that’s assuming that one of them doesn’t devour the other!”  Verakry responded with growing excitement.

Kade was stunned. “We did exactly as you instructed us, and we lost a number of lives, each of which will be missed dearly. You expect us to… try again?”

Verakry paused for a moment before replying questioningly, “I told humanity before I gave them the Astral and Umbral Points that there would be a price to pay. I didn’t say I’d be the one to collect. What do you think happens when they get here and find their relic? Wiping away your existence would amount to pissing on an ant hill. If you’re not ready when they come to reclaim their Point… well I guess I won’t have to worry about you complaining to me about it, will I?”

Cekell had been analyzing Verakry intently, even he could tell that the dark figure was completely different from the humans that he had been dealing with. Still levitating in the air, he decided he did not like this place, and consequently turned to see about removing himself from the area. As he did, he came face to face with Verakry, who somehow was in front of him again. Unsure of how to react, he froze in place and projected a noise in an attempt to express his intent to no longer tolerate being stabbed or cut on; but instead, conveyed only panic.

“Easy little one, let me have a look at you.” Verakry announced calmly, yet firmly, as it slowly held a hand out towards the flustered, silver infant.

Kade just watched in disbelief as Verakry reached for Cekell. Having had enough, Cekell wasn’t going to simply wait for the outstretching hand to claim him. He trembled as fire welled up in his chest. Just as Verakry’s hand made contact with him, Cekell forced all the energy he had stored up into Verakry, prompting a laugh out of it. “Ha! This one seems to know what is required of him. He lashed out as though he’s expecting me to take a bite out of him!” 

Expecting an entirely different reaction, Cekell was stunned and quickly subdued by Verakry’s grasp. unable to peel himself from the dark figures' grip, Cekell opened the Astral Point as wide as he could, and let its energy pour into Verakry. Writhing in the hand that bound him, Cekell didn’t make a sound. It was then that Verakry noticed the gash on his chest that had liquid mana oozing out of it. “Interesting. He appears wounded. How did this happen?” The dark figure asked, turning it’s attention to Kade.

“You said you wanted both points in one body. I was retrieving one to give to the other.” Kade answered honestly.

“Ahh, and I supposed he wouldn’t let you.” Verakry stated matter-of-factly as it turned it’s focus back to Cekell, who had stopped funneling energy into Verakry and started storing up no small amount of it in his body. “How about we let them decide which one shall bear both points? There is still much we could learn from them in the meantime.”

Kade sighed, annoyed, before replying with, “This is your show, I’ve been instructed to follow your orders as far as the Points are concerned. So what would you have me do with it?”

“Go back and tend to the other one. I’ll hold on to this one for a moment while I decide how best to accelerate its growth.” Verakry instructed. Before Kade could get a word in, Verakry vanished, disappearing with Cekell.

 

Verakry watched from above as a pack of shadow garm had chased a steel fleece into a thicket of underbrush, therein sapping it’s stored charge as the dense shrubbery acted as a ground. It took the pack much trial and error to figure out when it was safe to attack a steel fleece, and trying to pick off a lone creature was already in their blood. Being alone, the steel fleece is more apt to the flight response as opposed to fight. Most of the shadow garms knew that a bite of steel fleece came with a mouthful of pain. They didn’t know it took a bit for the steel fleece to recharge, but they did know if they got one alone, fleeing was in it’s blood. Give it some cover to hide in, and its instincts would take care of the rest. 

Turning it’s attention to the warborn still in it’s clutches, Verakry explained, “If I understand it correctly, the evolution of your species is built off of generation after generation of survival of the fittest. The strong not only feed on the weak, culling them; but are also the ones to bequeath their genes onto the next generation, passing on whatever it was that made them stronger than the rest. It is also my understanding that your kind learns best while they are younger. Seek out the strong, young one, that you may learn strength.” The shadow enshrouded figure turned it’s gaze back to the surrounded steel fleece just as the pack of shadow garm rushed in to strike. With only the best of intention, it callously reached out and fed the warborn to the jungle.

Cekell plummeted with a frightened screech as stability gave way and gravity claimed him, dragging him helplessly to the ground. The cry he made was cut flat as he met the cold ground, and only served to announce his presence to the hungry pack. It was almost day break, and if they did not get a meal here, they would be going to bed hungry. He was small, and the only shadow garms that paid him any mind, were the two he landed between. They wasted no time as they raced each other to make a meal out of him first, and they sunk their teeth deep to get a firm grip. Voraciously, they fought over who would eat him.  Spurred viciously into action, Cekell clenched up and fed them wrath.

As the two garms that had been latched onto him fell over limp, Cekell went berserk; lashing out at the nearest thing to him, from charging leap to punishing zap he bounced from one creature to the next. One after another, Cekell laid them low; even putting the steel fleece out of its misery as he latched onto and discharged his overflowing energy into anything that moved. As he only gave silent, instantaneous death; the pack didn’t know what was going on until it was already over, and only he remained standing. 

He hadn’t begun to calm when Verakry appeared and snatched him up, who could immediately tell that Cekell was already more adept at channeling the energies of the Astral Point. It wasn’t enough. His body quickly grew adept at conduiting the energies of the Astral Point to anything in his reach, but he was outgrowing what the dormant Astral Point had trickling out. It momentarily roused as Cekell got desperate, and drew heavily off of it as though it were meant to be a part of him. In that moment, it burned Cekell; and even Verakry was shocked, both literally as well as figuratively upon realizing that Cekell had freed himself from Verakry’s grip.

The liquid mana that composed his body started to bubble even to the surface that comprised his skin. This hurt him, perhaps even damaged him. It still wasn’t enough though, so he tensed up and prepared to once again draw heavily off of the Astral Point. He hadn’t yet learned of moderation, nor did he carry the notion of holding back. He needed power and he found it. Even if he had been aware of it’s costs, he would have worried about them later. In his mind, there was only this moment, and he would no longer simply wait idly for cold or pain to claim him, not any more. 

Thus far, all he had learned to do with his energy was lash out with it. There was no shape or focus to it, just raw and unadulterated energy that he threw a tantrum with. Until now, it had proven both effective and efficient, but against something like Verakry, he may as well have been throwing no more than a screaming fit. 

In astonishment, Verakry was like a young child trying to catch a butterfly. The dark figure didn’t want to damage its wings or otherwise hurt it, but it wanted a closer inspection. The gravity keeping Cekell to the ground intensified, as Verakry wanted him held in place so it could carefully pick him up. Cekell didn’t realize until he was pulled down to a knee. With a panicked squeal, he pressed the Astral Point. It would not rouse, but the trickle of energy it had been giving had opened ever so slightly. Channelling this increased current into an arc flash that latched onto an encroaching Verakry, it was disregarded as no more than dust in the wind.

“You’re not just a quick learner, you’re also desperate. At the cusp of something incredible, you should step back, lest you fall in.”Verakry warned Cekell, who paid him no heed. Intending to leap at Verakry, he lurched forward and fell over as gravity would not relinquish him. This surprised him, and Verakry quickly capitalized. “Easy now, I have no intention of hurting you. I don’t want you harming yourself either.”

Verakry held him there for a long moment, hoping Cekell would stop perceiving him as a threat. Instead, Cekell gave out from fatigue and overexertion. Collapsing with a pitiful squeak, he had no more resistance to offer. “I see there is a limit to how much raw energy you can tap into! Impressive, for a first try. All that raw energy, and you cannot yet do much more than fling it around. You’ll learn to bend it to your will in due time, little one.”

Noticing Cekell was still wounded, the shadowy figure put it’s observation and analysis on hold for a closer examination. All the wounds aside from the gash across his chest were gone. It was closed, but rather than healing, it was almost as if it were being clenched shut. “I’m afraid I know next to nothing of the physiology of one of your kind, and cannot tell how bad that wound is; that it hasn’t yet closed is worrisome, if only…” Verakry’s thoughts shifted to Tellamar explaining about a girl that could use mana to heal the wounds of their kind, and how he was having her brought there. In fact, with the sun starting to peek above the horizon, she should be along shortly.

Tucking the silver warborn up against his chest, Verakry explained, “I’ve heard your kind boast that whatever doesn’t kill them, makes them stronger. There seems to be plenty here that won’t kill you, but is going to try all the same. Let’s tend to your scratch, little one. There is much to do, and I can’t wait to get started!”

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