Boredom.
It was really the boredom that was the worst.
Walking for hours, then stopping for a short break before continuing again wasn't great for Trei either, but it was nothing compared to the torture of constant observation and suffocating silence. His only reprieve was the hours passing through his training.
[Aether Integration: 100/100%. Efficiency: 49/100%. Injury: Minor. Recommendation: Survive.]
Treiton huffed at the gall of the creature inside him. For an entire day it had told him nothing except to run and hide, and now it decided to be even broader? Still, he looked up at the night sky, its cold stars needling through the branches. Sixty percent more had taken only an hour this time.
An entire day had passed before they finally settled in. Just before sleep, Boss told Leave to cover the first watch, then Glace would follow, then him. Though eyes lingered on him, Trei used the pre-electricity darkness to conceal the effects of his training.
Let's see what we got.
[Strength: 0.5 (0.009), Agility: 0.6 (0.009), Stamina: 0.52 (0.02)]
He didn't spare much thought for the numbers at the moment, still more bothered by Boss's dramatic increase. An anomaly. That's what it said, right? he wondered, shifting his lying position to hold a plank. It wasn't real movement, but he hoped it was enough to diminish the injury. Now wasn't the time to find out what excess Aether would do to him. Was it some ability he used?
After a couple minutes, he couldn't hold the plank and lowered himself slowly, resting before starting again. Like that, the injury faded away.
It's still too slow, he thought as the time passed, sleep refusing to come. There's no way in two days I could get strong enough to—but… they're only human. Flesh and blood, right?
He turned, watching Leave approach Glace. Seeing the man rise, Trei made his decision: Might as well be tonight. If I get an opportunity, I'll try.
And it did.
Thankfully the man didn't bother him. There was a momentary question in Treiton's mind about Boss's confidence—sleeping so soundly after humiliating and injuring a subordinate—but he could think of plenty of reasons Glace wouldn't do anything. Fear. Pride. Laziness. Trouble. Name it.
But after some hours, the opportunity came all the same.
When Glace finally pushed himself up with a groan and wandered off, Trei slowly stood, making as little noise as possible. He watched the man's back turn, shoulders slumping, steps swaying slightly as he moved away from the camp and toward the darker slope of the hill.
Trei followed. He slid his feet in slow, sweeping motions to avoid twigs and dry leaves. It wasn't perfect, some noise was inevitable, but nothing that couldn't be mistaken for wind.
His heart hammered. Too loud. Too fast.
Drip. Drip. Shhh—
"Ahhhh, finally," Glace sighed, standing near the crest where the ground dipped away. Treiton could hear the stream of urine hitting the rocks below.
Trei stopped a few paces behind him, eyeing the short sword at the man's hip. The scabbard, of course, faced away from him.
How am I supposed to—
As if sensing his hesitation, the buzzing came.
[Hunter's Instinct activated. Vulnerable points: Neck and belly. Recommendation: Knock off balance now!]
His nervousness vanished in an instant, and his mind cleared.
Trei moved.
"Hrk—?!" Glace choked as Treiton slammed into his back, both of them tipping forward over the edge. The world tilted, then vanished as they tumbled down the slope, branches whipping past, dirt scraping skin, and limbs tangling.
Treiton clung to him, one arm wrapping around Glace's chest, the other fumbling blindly for the hilt at his hip.
"Let—go—!" Glace snarled, elbows smashing backward. One caught Trei in the ribs, another glanced off his jaw in a flash of white pain. His grip slipped; Glace twisted, trying to roll on top of him.
Teeth sank into Treiton's hand when he tried to clap it over the man's mouth.
"Rgh—!" Trei grunted as blood coated Glace's lips.
They hit a jut of rock, the tumble jolting to a stop with Treiton half on top. His lungs burned. His bitten hand screamed. But his fingers finally found the hilt.
He yanked.
Metal rasped against leather as the blade came free.
Glace sucked in air, eyes wild. "HE—!"
Treiton slammed his bleeding hand over the man's mouth again.
"—LHGK—!"
[Neck. Now.]
The thought wasn't his, but his body obeyed, striking towards a now glowing spot on Glace's neck.
Shnk.
Steel kissed flesh in a short, brutal line across the throat. Not a clean slice, but deep enough that only a wet gurgle rattled against his palm. Hot blood sprayed over his fingers.
"Shut up," Treiton hissed under his breath, feeling the vibration of Glace's strangled attempt to scream.
The man thrashed, hands clawing weakly at Treiton's arm. Panic filled his eyes, tears spilling over. He wasn't dead yet.
Trei gripped the blade harder and drove it down into Glace's side. Once. Then twice. Each thrust dull and heavy, not graceful, creating a sickening sound, and punching through cloth and flesh.
Glace's movements slowed. His fingers slipped from Treiton's sleeve. The light left his eyes.
Trei breathed out. Slowly and calmly.
He looked at his hands, both coated in blood. Then at the damage he'd inflicted. He blinked, momentarily unsure of himself.
I should… feel something, right? But he felt nothing. It had been easy. No revulsion. No surge of triumph. Nothing at all. It felt more like—business. I wasn't always like this… was I? No. No, definitely not. Have you changed me? Was it the instinct?
The creature cut through his spiraling thoughts as if sensing them.
[Recommendation: Flee and hide.]
NO! he shouted inwardly.
[…BZZZZZZ!] It hummed as if frustrated, a grating vibration that filled his skull.
"I'm not leaving Luca," he whispered under his breath, defiant, only now realizing this bug had a far more active mind than he'd assumed.
[Upon host's death, there is danger. Survival: Not guaranteed.]
Trei thought about the panther. If he stayed and died, he'd have to escape that forest again. How much luck had he burned the first time?
He took a slow breath. I'm staying.
Then he rose, blade steady in hand, turning toward camp.
[…Recommendation: Hunt the anomaly.]
With a thin, newly confident smirk, Trei thought back: That was the plan.
It took some time to climb up the slope, using the curved short-sword and thin trees as leverage. By the time he was up, his breath was in short, quiet rasps.
Returning the way came, he stopped just at the small clearing hidden from the main road. Everyone had still been sound asleep. He scanned the two mercenaries, pausing before waking over to Boss.
The man slept on his side, chest rising and falling in deep, heavy breaths. The short-sword felt steady in Treiton's grip as he crept forward. His heart thumped hard once, then steadied to a frightening calm again.
Now.
He raised the blade and drove it down toward the exposed neck and… it stopped.
Held mid-air—in a hand.
A hand from someone that couldn't be awake.
[Anomaly detected.]
Boss's eyes were open, staring straight into Treiton's.
The blade slid only a breath through his palm, blood slicking around his fingers, but his grip stopped the thrust cold.
"Leave! Get up!" Boss roared, voice roaring through the woods.
Treiton reacted, kicking at the man's wrist. Boss grunted in pain and annoyance. A reminder that though super human, he's still human.
"I told you not to give me a reason to hurt you." His arm whipped around like a club.
BAM!!
Treiton felt his ribs fold before he even flew. The world spun, and bark exploded against his back as he slammed into a tree, coughing blood the moment he hit the ground.
His vision doubled then tripled.
A scream cut through the ringing.
"WHERE'S GLACE!!"
Treiton pressed a palm to his forehead, nausea crashing through him.
[Injury: Major.]
"I… know…" he coughed, trying to get to his knees. His chest burned, and new pain pulsed with every breath.
Another scream. Anger followed by grief.
Boss turned toward him, fury visible even in the dim.
Treiton tried to stand, raising the sword on instinct—TANG!
The axe came down like a falling mountain. It hit so hard the shockwave rattled Treiton's teeth. The blow smashed the sword from his hands and drove him flat onto his back.
Metal clattered into the darkness.
"IS THAT IT?!" Boss bellowed. "You play the timid brat, then try to gut me in my sleep?! Where's my son?!"
Treiton rolled to the side just as the axe sank into the earth where his head had been. Dirt exploded upward, and pain tore through his side.
He looked up to see Luca in Leave's grip, the woman holding him still with a knife to his throat.
Boss ripped the axe from the ground with a snarl.
"FUCK THE MINES, YOU CAN'T ROT IN THE DIRT!"
[Anomaly detected.]
Treiton froze. After all, the anomaly stood before him, ready to strike the final blow.
A voice cut through the night:
"STOP!!!"
A blinding, purple light erupted behind Boss. Sound vanished. Night paused. Even the wind seemed to bow down.
Treiton shielded his eyes as a wave of heat washed over him.
When the glow dimmed… Leave was gone.
Not unconscious. Not thrown aside, but gone. There was no blood. No trace whatsoever.
Luca stood alone now, his skin glowing with a bright neon violet. A second ring of iris orbited in his eyes, extending far into the pupil and white.
Boss dropped the axe, letting it clatter on the ground.
His hands shook.
"M—Ma—" he croaked, but he never finished.
His entire body convulsed unnaturally as if an epileptic fit followed by blood bursting from his nose, ears, and eyes. His spine arched like a hooked animal before he fell, twitching, then lay still.
Dead.
Just… dead in an instant.
The purple light flickered out the next moment.
Luca collapsed with a soft thump and kick of dust.
"Luca!" Treiton scrambled, ignoring the agony in his ribs, grabbing the boy's shoulders. "Luca, hey—hey—come on—"
No response.
Treiton pressed two fingers to his friend's neck.
Nothing.
"Wake up, man…" He shook him, voice cracking. "Luca…"
Still nothing.
Frustration flared.
He was twenty-two inside, and this kid had saved him twice now. He pressed his palms over Luca's sternum and began chest compressions.
"Come on, come on… I've gotta be the lamest asshole alive. A damn teenager dies for me twice?!"
The instinct buzzed.
[Danger Instinct—]
"SHUT UP!" he shouted, pumping harder, breath ragged. "Not now!"
[BZZZ.]
[Environmental hazard detected. Aether potency: Extreme. Recommendation: Run far.]
Treiton coughed and blood splattered across Luca's chest.
He coughed again harder. More blood.
His skin tingled.
Then burned.
Blistered.
[Anomaly detected in host body.]
"What…?" His vision tunneled. "Was this… you?" he whispered, staring at Luca's still face.
It felt as if magma traveled through his veins, like his blood was boiling. His heartbeat rattled, and the world dimmed.
Everything went black.
#
"AHHH!" Luca's familiar scream.
[Preservation Instinct charging: 0 / 100%]