Hey, hey, guys, gals, and in-between pals! New week, new chapter. I have discovered that Patreon doesn't allow me to realign my paragraphs and that's a problem because all of the italicized parts of the chapters are in specific places on the page. So, I will begin posting a link to the latest chapters the day they come out as a public post. That way you can see the text the way it's intended to be seen.
Hope you enjoy the show!
~ Chance, Synth's Creative Force
Background vector created by kjpargeter - www.freepik.com
CW: Violence, animal attack, fire, burn wounds, fictional animal death, blood, mildly graphic death
I slipped out of Sam’s safe house long before the sun would rise, ignoring my desperate need for rest. Sam’s offer to help me was appealing, but his insistence that I leave my Spark intact broke the deal for me. I was ridding myself of these Powers before I harmed anyone else, and no one was going to stop me. I wasn’t looking for power; I couldn’t care less about that. I was looking for freedom.
I stood in front of the trees for longer than I should have as I attempted to get past my anxiety about being so closed in. I took several deep breaths to slow my pounding heart. “C’mon, Kindred. It’s just some trees and the edge isn’t that far away.” My pep talk was less than effective. I couldn’t get anywhere if I didn’t start moving. I clenched my jaw and glared at the forest before venturing into the woods.
Light filtered through the leaves as the sun rose over the horizon, and I could hear the wildlife stirring in all directions. I wasn’t used to being surrounded by so many sounds and my ears ached from the chorus of waking animals. I picked up my pace to escape the cacophonous forest before I went deaf.
Or mad.
I had never felt relief like what I experienced as I ran out of the tangled maze of trees and beasts, panting as I slowed to a halt. I fell onto the grass and stared at the morning sky, thanking whichever Deity had led me from certain doom. I wasn’t ready to shake hands with Death.
My relief was short-lived when I sat up and realized I had no idea where I was. This wasn’t where Sam and I landed the day before. I scanned my surroundings for anything recognizable, but the landscape was unfamiliar. I put my head in my hands while I considered the mess I was in. I was lost in a world I didn’t understand with few supplies and no idea which direction would bring me closer to my end goal.
I stood and wiped dirt and grass off of my clothes. “Well, no use in just sitting here feeling sorry for myself.” I took in my surroundings with more scrutiny now that my adrenaline rush had settled. I smiled when I spotted a village far off in the distance. It would be several cycles of walking before I arrived, but at least it was a goal I could focus on.
With my supplies so low, my intention was to reach the village as soon as I could so I wouldn’t starve on my way there. However, to my surprise, I found wild food growing everywhere. I had never seen so much food just growing out of the ground. Traders who needed help navigating the desert often paid with strange and exotic foods.
I scoffed while plucking bright orange berries from a squat bush. “They’re exotic, they told us. They’re rare, they told us. Yet, here I am able to fill up one of my kabettle shells with these berries.” I popped one of the berries in my mouth and closed my eyes as I savored the flavor. “They’re so much better fresh. Maybe this loud, green world isn’t so bad.” I filled my shells and bag with fresh foraged foods before following the road once more. I found myself distracted by the unfamiliar flora and fauna along the way. Everything was new and exciting, and the more I saw, the more I wanted to see.
As the sun's light faded, I made a camp just inside the tree line so that I couldn’t be spotted from the road. It wasn’t ideal, but at least I could see the sky. I watched the stars form above me and counted as many as I could while eating some bitter-tasting mushrooms I had found. When I lost count, I began again, repeating the process to lull myself to sleep. As I drifted off, all I could think about was how much more comfortable Sam’s couch had been.
I woke with a start when I heard something crashing through the forest, dazed from my sudden consciousness. I whipped my head around as I attempted to find the source of the sounds. My eyes went wide as an enormous beast burst through the trees. The brown-furred creature had black stripes and was larger than any animal I had ever seen. It glared at me with yellow eyes that had thin, vertical black pupils.
I got to my feet, grabbed my bag, and backed away from the creature in the hope it wouldn’t attack me while I faced it. “Good, whatever in the Pits you are. Are these your woods? I’m just passing through. I can go, no need to be confrontational.” My soothing tone did nothing to dissuade the beast from advancing on me with bared, blood-red pointed teeth. “Guess we do.”
I sprinted as fast as I could away from the raging monster, but I could hear it barreling toward me. I was in full panic mode, desperate to find somewhere safe. I darted in random directions in the hope the creature would be slowed or discouraged. If I made myself difficult prey, maybe it would leave me alone. There had to be easier things to eat.
It continued to pursue me, growing ever closer as I grew ever more tired. My muscles burned from the extended sprinting and I could feel myself slowing down. If running wasn’t going to work, maybe hiding would. I made a sharp turn to run into the forest, using my small size to go between the trees.
The monster was slowed as it slashed its way through the obstacles, still determined to catch me. I began to suspect the beast’s interest in me had nothing to do with food. This creature wanted to kill me. For what reason, I may never know, but it was clear it wouldn’t stop chasing me until one of us was dead.
I spotted a small cave mouth that was almost hidden behind fallen rocks. I dove into the cave and pulled the rocks closer so the opening was completely hidden, my body complaining about my continued physical demands. Scratches and bruises covered my exposed skin and my clothing was torn from running full tilt through the brush.
I sat still as a stone in the small, dim cave and took shallow breaths so the monster wouldn’t hear me. There was sudden silence outside of my hiding place. No animals. No rustling leaves. No sounds at all. That was impossible, though. That beast hadn’t been that far behind me and I would have heard it if it went by.
I peeked through a gap between the rocks to see if the coast was clear. I was frozen when I saw the glowing yellow eyes staring at me from just beyond my barrier. I felt tears running down my face, and I was so terrified I couldn’t form thoughts. The monster shoved the rocks away and swiped blindly at me. I pressed myself against the back wall, but it was all for naught when its claws caught my clothing.
I was torn from my no longer safe haven and the monster flung me at a set of boulders, the air knocked from me when I collided with them with several sickening cracks. My whole world was pain and blood streamed down my face from my head injury. I tried to push myself up only to crumple to the ground again. I watched the monster stalk toward me with its hackles raised and death in its eyes. I was going to die. This was how it was going to end.
Let go. I can save you. Just let go.
“No.”
I focused on my suffering, all of it. From the day I was born, my life had been a living Pit all because I was different and no one wanted to help me. I piled all of the wrong-doings, all the prejudice, all the unearned hatred, all of my rage, and gathered the Magic those experiences had left with me. My Spark burned inside of me with every injustice I recalled, the grass around me bursting into flames from the intense heat I was producing.
Just as the beast moved in for the kill, I exploded into green flames, scorching the rocks and sending the monster flying. I stood up, my whole body shaking and the sound of bones cracking filling the air. I felt my bones go back into their proper places but I could tell they were still broken.
The beast shook itself off and roared at me before charging at me again. I clambered on top of the tallest boulder and it ran headfirst into the boulder. It staggered back in a dazed that it quickly recovered from and stood on its hind legs, its head now level with mine. It didn’t move at first, glaring at me with nothing but malice in its eyes.
My focus was drawn from its eyes to the wound on its head from hitting the boulder, a shining red skull hovering over it. I leaped from the boulder as the creature swiped at me, but when I turned around, it was just then swinging at where I had been. I watched it stare at the spot it expected me to be, and held in a laugh as it stared at its paw. I took off running while it was still distracted, following the fallen trees the beast had left in its wake to find my way out.
I had no time to even consider celebrating my escape as I could hear the enraged monster hot on my trail. Lucky for it, I had no intention of running anymore. I watched as a phantom version of the creature dash from the trees and came to a halt in front of me with a paw raised and ready to strike. I moved out of my position and hid in a nearby bush, calling on my Spark to form a fireball.
I had only seconds to execute my plan before the monster dashed from the tree and came to a halt in front of where I had been with a paw raised and ready to strike. It slammed its paw down on where I seemingly should have been. I examined its paw again, maybe expecting me to be stuck to its paw.
“Hey! Pit trash!” I saw the phantom head turn to glare down at me which gave me the opportunity to line up my shot with the skull on the beast’s head. It turned just as the phantom image had, but it didn’t get to the glaring part before my green and amber fireball exploded exactly on target. The monster staggered back before toppling over, the ground shaking from the collision of beast and earth.
I clenched my smoking hand and ignored the pain as I formed another fireball. My head was pounding and my Magic was waning fast, but I had to finish this. I had to make sure it wasn’t getting back up. I staggered into position and aimed for the now flashing red skull, my blurred vision making that difficult.
I was knocked off my feet when a missile made of silver light crashed down on the monster’s head, leaving a headless corpse and a crater filled with boiling blood. I stared at the thing I had just fought for my life against, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
That was my kill.
I watched a young, brown-haired man in low-level plate armor approach my kill. He grinned at the aftermath as he sheathed his sword. A silver- and green-scaled Darken with tired gold eyes stood next to the man, examining their handiwork. A blue and black Kobold hopped onto my kill’s lifeless body, lounging on its back.
That was my kill.
I felt rage building inside of me as I watched the people who had taken my kill from me. I had earned that kill. I had fought for my very life, and against all odds, I had survived. For the first time in my life, my Magic hadn’t failed me. This was my victory.
I laid down and stared at the sky and tried to calm my anger by counting the near-invisible stars that were just waking up. This technique had worked my entire life. It never failed me. I could always count on the stars.
My fury only grew when I lost track of which stars I had counted which forced me to restart my count. Every restart was more frustrating than the last. All I could think about was how I worked so hard for so little reward. How everything had been stolen from me, time and time again.
I can make them pay.
I stretched the fingers of my burned hand, the chronic injury my punishment for daring to use my Magic. I left the desert, the only home I have ever known, to get rid of my Powers, not use them for petty revenge.
An arrow hurtled into the ground next to my head, slicing my cheek on the way down.
“Damn! I missed! Stop laughing! I can do this.”
I rolled out of the way before the arrow buried itself deep in the ground where my head had been. I glared up at the people who stole my kill.
I can make them pay.