Blood of Saints - Passage 10: Bright Eyes in the Dark Lands

[Studde: Bright Eyes in the Dark Lands]

A hard landing and several hours later, I find this darkness less than entertaining. The only interesting thing I’ve found in this dark land is something that found me. It literally fell out of the sky upon me, while a shake somehow darker than the darkness that stayed in the sky. A giant mechanical dragon.

It has taken a fair bit of damage and does not appear to have a cockpit, but I may be able to make this work. If I scavenge the dead buildings out here, I am sure to find something of use and I definitely need to. For though I can’t see what exactly it is, there is indeed something large headed this way. I can only hope I have enough time.

[Javier Don Quixote: Bright Eyes in the Darkness]

With a mighty crash we find the ground. A land that I find to be quite dark, even with my Eyes of Truth. But in the immediate area, something glows. In the place of the beast I have traveled with, a young blonde boy stands. Rusty armor wraps around his chest and a large steel bolt is fixed through the armor and into his chest. Blood slowly drops from the bolt. Lyland? “Is that you Lyland?” I ask as I approach him.

He steps forward me and stammers “H-h-help M-m-me…” Then he falls to his knees as he screams and begins to change. I grab my nephew and hold him close as I can do nothing for him. My long last nephew, who I have searched for since my family villa was overtaken by monsters and I slayed them all. Only to neither find, nor save any of my family. Now I feel him change in my arms.

Hair falls from his head, clumps rolling down my arms and his skin before cold as scales cover it. He becomes hard to hold as he becomes larger and more similar to the beast I have long toted with me, but slowly becoming more monstrous. Becoming a large lion covered in dark blue scales. His mane of fur around his head is gold and a a ridge of fur goes from his mane to the tip of his spiked tail that is closer to black. Large wings breach the skin of his back and form an outline of golden feathers.

Suddenly in a rush of movement, he forces me away. Then he roars, a mixture of physical sounds and mental imagery. Good God, could the beast I have been torturing for years have been Lyland all along? Have all of these years been no more than psychosis? Will this be my comeuppance? Then so be it! I will bring him to his senses or die trying!

I generate my lance offhand and await his charge as he beats his front paws on the ground. Then he runs at me, to which I sidestep and try to trip him with the lance, but he is surely not there. Is this part of my madness? A question answered by a large paw that swats me aside. I quickly recover from the roll and block another incoming paw with my lance. But, the lance shatters on impact and I am thrown back again.

Left with little choice, I announce “The Voices of Chaos tell the glory of destruction, yours!” and I take my other form. I catch his nose with my open clawed hand and check his chest with my shoulder. This forces him back and shatters the bolt that I have so long used to connect him to a chain tether. A sin I hope to live long enough to make up to him. I follow through as he is still falling back and grab him by the throat.

My mind reaches out to him as I think “I am sorry Lyland, if you can hear me, please stop so we can work this out.”

Either he doesn’t hear me or no longer understands as he telephones out of my grasp. Then he drives down like a pouncing cat. But such an attack does little in this form, between having four legs and being covered in armor. But I use this change to drop my lance and put him in a bear hug. I hold him tightly, hoping to calm him.

This unfortunately does the opposite, as he begins flashing about and tries to teleport. This causes him to crash me into nearby blacked out buildings. While certainly not painful, this isn’t exactly pleasant. But after a few times, I do manage to get my footing and and slam his back against the ground. This sun’s him for a brief second that I use to pin him. This appears to prevent his teleportation long enough for me to ask in thought “Are you in there Lyland?”

To this I only receive a slow laughing in my head and images of my destruction as his voices bounces around my mind “Round Two”. He teleports out of my grip and before I can ponder where he went, he grabs me by the back of the neck and throws me. This is me into a roll and eventual crash. He however is standing firm, A knight with blue bone armor, complete with sharps edges and chains.

He bursts forward and I expect him to read into me. Instead chains grab me by wrapping around my neck and limbs, then pulling me up and through the wall I was just a part of. I look up as it doesn’t stop, instead he runs up the building above me, using a wind tunnel to accelerate. Then once we breach the top of the building, he drags me through the roof and down the other side. Then his chains throw me ahead of him and the air behind me booms, launching me to the ground below.

I crash into the ground below with an explosive crash. Dust fills the air as blood fills my mouth and my armor falls away. But still I stand, even as my body returns to human form. In front of me, Lyland crashes down in a landing that would make a super hero proud. The dust kicked up dances in the limited light and sparks away from him as he walks slowly to me. But I have nothing left, I spread my arms and close my eyes as I say “Just do it Lyland, I can’t blame you. Just promise me that whenever you find your way through your madness that you will somehow live happily.”

He says nothing and just continues walking closer. I leave my arms out, but I do close my eyes. I can’t say that I don’t regret my actions, but this may all be what I deserve. The I feel a smaller person hug me. Slowly I open my eyes and look down. Lyland looks up at me and smiles. A smile reminiscent of his mother, if it weren’t for the sharp teeth. But those eyes definitely have it.

[Studde: Bright Eyes in the Dark Lands]

So far I have managed to frame out a new command center and have set up at least basic interfaces. From what I am tell, this thing still has power to all systems. It would be nice to find a few monitors, but I can make things work without it. I may have no choice in the matter anyway, that large shadow out there looming in close. If I have to, I can make do with what I have. However, I still have time to try a few other buildings, we’ll see what I can really do.

[Hale: Bright Eyes in the Dark Lands]

I am slowly following a shadow that is somehow darker than the already dark scene. It shuffles slowly, grinding the ground as whatever it is doesn’t seem to be picking its feet all of the way up. But my new snake friend seems to think this is the way to go. “Stay true to the path” he hisses “You will have answers before you know it piece of Hatjorfnin.” I don’t even bother correcting Victory at this point.

Oh yeah, that’s right, his name is Victory. I have also learned that if I stay too still for too long, he gets struck by lightning. It only took me a couple close calls to figure that out. My ears are actually still ringing after the last one and I think my hair is still standing on end. “So” I begin to ask, but for no other reason than to break the monotony “Who were you the memory of?”

He blows raspberry, his metal forked tongue launching sparks as he shifts to a hissing laugh. He says “Nobody of importance, just a fisherman that was meant to die in a lightning storm. I imagine your story is much more interesting, so why don’t you tell me about it?”

“I am sure that I have plenty of time.” I shrug and continue walking.

[Dem: Bright Eyes in the Dark Lands]

It took Adam a little more than a few minutes to slap together another hummer limo. I honestly wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself. Once finished, he opens the door for everyone to get in. Our arrangement is much the same as before, but everyone seems to be keeping an eye on Iris and Boulder.

The fact that I knew she is hundreds of years old doesn’t make it any easier to see her lounging with Boulder. I can’t be far away from her soon enough and imagine the others feel the same. And if it weren’t for whatever mental issues Boulder suffers from, I would hope he finds it just as disturbing. I contemplate suggesting we find somewhere to drop them and leave, but my thoughts are interrupted by the voice of Adam on an intercom he apparently added this time around. “I almost forgot everyone, whatever that void was, I thought I saw Hale in the distance.”

His voice trails as I begin to tap into what I am starting to think is whatever Hale is experiencing, a weight on my right shoulder and the voice of Hale. I hear him say “… Then she fell, not out of the sky, but through the classroom door. But that was close enough for me. She could have been an angel for all it mattered to me. I had seen her many times riding by on their bikes. So anyway…”

I lose focus on his voice when Dad snaps me out of it by talking “At least we know he’s alive.”

I smile and respond “Yes, yes it is.” We’ll find you Hale.

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