Chapter 3: Jack; Vagril 6th, 343SR; 04:30
Jack wandered through the darkness, his lantern lighting nothing but the floor around him. The black shadows stretched out endlessly in all directions, but something about this place didn't seem right. He couldn't hear his own footsteps, or feel his own skin. He looked down at the lantern he held, only to discover he wasn't holding anything.
"Put it out," a disembodied voice whispered.
Jack jumped, his heartbeat resounding through the open space. The light suddenly vanished, and the darkness engulfed him. Whether his eyes were open or not, he saw nothing. Despair flooded over him as he tried to find where the voice came from. As his sight adjusted, white sparkles started to glow in the sky all around him, each surrounded by an array of vivid color. He was in awe at the sight, but stopped as he looked down and saw a rectangular silhouette up ahead.
He walked toward the figure in the darkness, it got larger the closer he got. Jack stopped as he looked down at the base of the silhouette, there was a foot. He looked up, his gaze following a leg the size of a tree trunk up to the knee, the figure of a person slowly became clearer. The silhouette was a throne, and upon it sat a giant beyond comprehension. His body was shrouded in darkness under the white hood and mantle he wore.
Jack looked at it's face and his heart beat louder. He felt nauseous, overwhelmed, his stomach turned and he almost wanted to throw up. He tried to find its face, only to realize there was nothing there besides two round white eyes. A dreadful feeling welled up as the thing's head tilted down, it was staring back at him.
Jack didn't hesitate, turning to run as fast as he could, only to stop as he faced a giant sword with its entire blade stabbed into the ground. The sword had a golden cross-guard, a black handle, and perfectly round gem glowing bright red at the top of the pommel. It was massive, Jack assumed it belonged to the one who sat on the throne. He knew he shouldn't touch it, however, the allure of the red orb couldn't be resisted. There was something about it. Something he wanted. Something he needed. Just as his fingertips were about to reach it, everything went dark.
* * *
"Jack!" Carol shouted.
Jack's eyes shot open, he quickly lifted his head as he huffed in and out. 'What the...' He squinted at the lamp that illuminated the dusty basement. To the right, Carol sat at another table, her back toward him. He looked down at the shards of green crystals on the desk, listening to his own breaths as he thought about what he just witnessed. 'That was a weird dream...' Jack yawned, shook his head and leaned forward onto the table, resting his head against his arms as he closed his eyes.
"Get up. We're almost done!" Carol demanded with an unnatural amount of energy.
"Just a few more minutes... We worked all day. I can't just stay up and not sleep..." Jack rubbed his eye.
"I want to finish these tonight, the sooner we take down Alexander Rael, the better!" Carol reminded him. "Bring the rest of the dust."
"One second..." Jack sighed.
Jack took the bottle of coarse green powder to the table Carol sat on. She thoroughly stirred salt into a cup of water until it was an opaque white, lifted the glass and analyzed the bottom, then decided to add in more salt. Next to her was a large glass sphere, it was about the size of Jack's head. He poured the fine powder into the circular opening at the top, the logorite piled up like sand at the bottom. He filled it about halfway, then stopped. Jack reached for a metal canister with a pipe extending out of the bottom of it. A triangular plastic knob protruded out of the extended section of the pipe, acting as a mechanism to control the flow of liquid.
"Bolts, rubber, metal, glass, plastic... I've been wondering... Where did you get all of this?" Jack asked.
"My parents used to disassemble stuff to get the parts... Most of it is just common tools used in houses, or just sewer systems... The glass is just containers... Unfortunately, I don't know where or when they collected it... This is kind of the last of the material I have..."
"Wouldn't the angels have just taken it?"
"Well, fortunately they figured it was mostly junk and left it..."
"Wait... Don't tell me waste came through these pipes..." Jack cringed.
"Don't worry it's clean... It was all washed in the lake a while ago..."
"So it did..."
Jack shook his head as he crouched down next to a bucket of water under the table, dipping a cup in. He lifted it out and poured it into a small hole on top of the tank, water dripped through and splashed back into the bucket. Jack twisted the knob, the water inside stopped flowing through the extended pipe. He turned it over and let the water out.
"It's ready," Jack set the tank on the table.
Carol poured the clear liquid into the tank while Jack held it steady. After the last drop of liquid splashed, she screwed a metal cap onto the hole, sealing it. She took the entire tank and inserted the pipe extension into the bottom. Then, attached the other side of the pipe to top of the glass sphere that Jack filled with logorite, screwing it in tightly.
"I can't wait to see these explode in Alexander's stupid face!" Carol grinned menacingly.
Carol lifted the contraption with both hands and took it to the side of the stairs, setting it down next to three more. The four explosives had been filled up to halfway with powdered logorite. Jack picked up the last empty contraption, it wasn't too heavy without the logorite inside it. He carried it with one hand, and left it in the corner. Carol took off her white coat and threw it on the chair with a huff.
"Hopefully it works," Jack said nervously.
"It definitely will, he can't be invincible," Carol assured.
Jack looked down, dread clouding over him. "He has a powerful gift from the Celestial... He's been through thousands of battles... People say he's the strongest angel that's ever existed... I really hope we can do this without him finding out it was us..."
"When he finds out, it'll be too late for him. We'll block the entrance of the mines first, and it'll force him to come to the town. Then, we take the explosives to the route they use and wait... When they come by, we ambush them..."
"By the way, how are we gonna transport all of this?" Jack asked. "We can only take one at a time..."
"That shouldn't be a problem, we have some time till the sun is up, we just can't be seen by the other villagers... They'll squeal, so we go now while they sleep. And we only have one bag to hide it in case we are caught..."
"Why would the villagers do that?" Jack squinted in confusion.
Carol's eyes widened. She pursed her lips and looked around, avoiding his gaze while trying to figure out what to say. She scratched her neck as her brows furrowed. Jack tilted his head in confusion.
"I mean we are doing most of the miners in the town a favor... I don't get it..." said Jack.
"That's not it," Carol shook her head. "The villagers told the angels it was your parents who closed the mines... That's why the villagers can't see us."
"They... What... Weren't they trying to help... Why would the villagers..." Jack stopped as he recalled getting attacked outside of his house. "Do people... Hate my parents?"
Carol picked up one of the explosives and carefully lowered it on top of the empty sack. She lifted the sides of the bag over the tank, and carried it with both hands. 'One of those guys yesterday... Franklin... And the woman across the street, Lydia...' Jack remembered the anger and resentment on their faces.
"Anyone who rejects the Celestial doesn't just get punished alone, everyone gets punished with them. That's why closing the mines isn't enough... If we take down a noble though... Well, I bet even the villagers would fear us if we did that- but that isn't the point, the angels will be too caught up to punish anyone. Plus, that jerk has it coming," she seethed with wide eyes. "We should go now, the sun will rise in an hour or two."
Jack watched Carol walk up the steps, he shook his head, then followed her. 'Everything is his fault... Everything we go through... Is because of Alexander Rael...' Thunder roared from outside, droplets of rain beat against the roof. Jack walked out of the basement, the entrance to the house on his left. To his right was a larger section used as the living room, and a door in the corner led to the bedroom. The house looked different from his own on the inside. On the wall were pictures of two children with short, loose hair. 'Huh?'
"Hey Carol, you have a sibling?" Jack asked, but she didn't seem to hear his question as she entered her bedroom.
"Give me a second, I'll get us coats," said Carol.
Jack shrugged it off, then opened the front door and stepped outside. The cold air rubbed his skin, a damp earthy scent filled the air. He expected to see the vibrant sky from his dream, however he was met with the pitch-black night instead. The edges of dark grey clouds were illuminated by the moonlight. The rain splashed into puddles in the dirt. As Jack stepped off the patio, his boot pressed deep into the wet mud. Another thunderous roar cracked through the sky, lighting up the outline of the mountain in front of the Celestial.
"Heads up," said Carol.
Carol tossed the coat to Jack, it was light, but the material felt thick. He put his hands through the thick brown wool, his arms were too short to reach out of the sleeves. Carol locked her door, then looked left and right, scanning the surroundings to make sure it was clear. As she turned to Jack, she held back a laugh as she saw how big the coat was.
"Sorry... I don't have a smaller one," Carol cleared her throat. "We don't have much time, let's go."
Carol started down the curved path, Jack zipped up the coat and followed close behind. In the same spot as usual toward the east, a green light in the sky burned brightly against the black sky. Carol noticed Jack gaze at it as they walked. 'I wonder why people call it the Necropolis... I don't even know what the word means...'
"Jack, do you think it's true? The curse of the non-unified?" Carol asked curiously.
"Huh? Well, until a non-unified gets a Celestial gift... I can't really deny it..." Jack shrugged.
"The angels say all that stuff, like..." Carol raised her arms, waving them in a silly way. "The Celestial blessed us, not you! You must serve us! Like, how do we not know if its just a big stick in the ground that makes cool stuff appear sometimes..."
"Well, trying to ask them immediately means neglecting the divinity of the Celestial, then they just punish us... I wonder if the Necropolis is a gift, how else can that flame in the sky just burn forever?" Jack mentioned as he looked towards the floating island.
"That? Well... I heard this from your mom... Who heard this from my dad... Whose grandfather grew up around the time the war between the angels and demons started," Carol recalled.
"That's... A long line for a story to be told down..." Jack nodded with a blank stare.
"The Hirians, Angels, and Demons battled three lords for freedom of the continent. The three lords were defeated, but... It's rumored Necropolis is still lit today because one of the lords still lives," Carol explained. "The three lost lords... I doubt they're alive, but if Necropolis up there belonged to one of them, who knows what the other two have!"
Jack noticed Carol stretch her hands outwards into the air as she explained. She clenched her fists and grinned as she looked forward. The rain slowly came to a stop. Jack tilted his head at her odd gesture.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked.
"Oh, sorry! I get excited thinking about these things, mysterious relics and magical places... All over the world! I mean they could be anywhere with hundreds of treasures in them, all of them just waiting to be found!" Carol explained with a bright smile across her face.
"Excited? All this just makes me nervous..." Jack admitted.
"Being nervous and being excited is like, the same thing," Carol laughed.
"That makes no sense..."
The two of them bickered as they approached the forest. Their eyes had adjusted to the dark, the trees around them and the foliage almost seemed like shades of the same color. The leaves were dark, but a hint of moonlight reflected off the raindrops resting on them.
"I... Was wondering... I saw a picture... It looked like you when you were a kid..." said Jack.
"Oh, that..." Carol looked away.
"I didn't know you had a sibling."
"I... Don't..."
"Huh? Then who was that other kid?"
"I don't know," Carol laughed awkwardly.
"You looked so alike..."
"Mmm..." Carol pursed her lips and hummed with an annoyed tone. "Okay fine... I had a little brother..."
Jack stopped. 'Had...'
"I'm... I'm sorry! I didn't know... I shouldn't have said that!" Jack apologized quickly.
"It's okay..." Carol said quietly, staring at the ground.
"What happened to him?"
"Unfortunately, I... Don't know... We were both born after my parents were taken to Logos... I didn't really know what to think when the angels showed up with him... I was only two years older. It was weird having a little brother, most non-unified don't try talking to others, or making friends... Because of that twisted bastard Alexander... But my brother always clung to me even if I told him not to... He was like my first partner in crime... We stole stuff from the merchants often, we got pretty good at it..." Carol grinned as she reminisced.
Jack squinted at her. 'Partner in crime...'
"We were moved from Torovince to Roccan when I was nine... It was... A bit better than Torovince... I didn't really care where we were, so long as we were together... We didn't talk much around the angels, but when they weren't around he'd always want to play..." Carol smiled. "He was adorable, oddly mischievous and unruly, but... I loved him..."
"Did Alexander find him?"
Carol sighed. "After Alexander executed my parents... I told him to hide outside the town... I knew they were coming for us... Every slave goes eventually... But... I didn't want that for him... I told the angels that I've never had a brother... I said it so many times I almost believed it myself. After a while, they just sent me to Logos on my own... I really thought he stayed hidden, I mean... Even after a year, he didn't show up to Logos... With your parents help, I snuck back to Roccan... But he wasn't there..."
"The angels found him?" Jack asked.
"Probably... Can't really hide from them forever, there's only so many places we can go... His name was William..."
"I'm... Sorry to hear that..." Jack was taken aback by Carol's somber demeanor.
'I don't think I should have asked her that... Wait... Carol is... Two years older than me...' Jack gulped as he looked down. They reached the entrance to the mines, no one was guarding it. Jack and Carol walked into the cave, stopping just a few meters from the entrance. Carol set the bag down and put the explosive next to the wall.
"Okay, just give me a countdown before you-" Jack froze as Carol turned the knob.
"Oh... My bad... Anyways, clocks ticking, let's run!" Carol warned as she sprinted out of the cave.
"Wha- Hey!" Jack stuttered.
Jack stepped back quickly, then turned and ran. A bright green light from behind him illuminated the walls of the cave. Jack scrambled back outside and ran behind a tree. He peeked his head out, only to see the bright green light glowing inside the entrance. 'Nothing exploded?'
"Carol nothing exploded!" Jack yelled.
Carol poked her head out from behind a bush. "Give it a second!"
After a few minutes of silence, nothing happened. The green light continued to grow in intensity. 'It's really bright...' Carol watched the entrance of the cave eagerly, biting the nail of her thumb. She breathed heavily, her eyes glued to the green light. They waited for five more minutes, but still, nothing happened.
"Well, that's underwhelming," Jack uttered as he looked at Carol. "Looks kind of cool though..."
"Just give it a couple more seconds," her voice cracked slightly.
Another minute passed, and Carol's shoulders slumped. Her eyes wandered toward the ground, she shook her head in disappointment. Her overwhelmingly positive demeanor flipped.
"I used enough Logorite, and the catalyst should be mixed properly..." Carol muttered, then shook her head. "I guess I am just an idiot... I can't even follow simple instructions..."
"Hold on... Don't be sad," Jack tried to comfort her.
Carol looked up at him, her expression was blank.
"We can always try again, or screw killing the angels, let's just leave... I'm sure we can survive on our own without the angels, screw this place!" Jack said anything he could to lift her spirits.
A single tear fell out of Carol's eye, she sniffled as she got up. "We'll be killed within a week... Nothing will change... The nobles will hunt us to the ends of Grelt..."
"Then... We better get a head start," Jack stated as he looked up into the sky and saw the white moon. "Oh, the clouds cleared up."
Carol smiled, then wiped her eyes. "I thought you were going to yell at me... You're a good person Jack."
Jack's brow furled. 'Don't say that...'
"I'm not..." Jack admitted as he shook his head. "I made fun of you when I saw you get hit... I even tried to tell you to be like everyone else... But... After seeing all the people in town... Obediently letting their lives be controlled... I'm glad you're different..."
Carol didn't say anything, she stared up at the moon for a moment. Jack looked down, expecting her to be angry.
"That was really honest..." Carol giggled and scratched her head. "Also a funny way of saying I'm weird..."
"I didn't say you were weird?!" Jack shook his head. "When did you hear that?!"
Carol suddenly laughed out loud joyously, Jack felt a smile spread on his face as he started laughing too. The two of them were oblivious to the light from the cave behind them, it was almost bright white. After a short pause, Carol opened her eyes. Her smile faded. She raised her hand, squinted for a moment, and then pointed to the sky.
"Hey, Jack... What is that?" she asked with a worried tone.
Carol pointed to three lights in the sky, two were white and the third one was red. They moved together seamlessly, staying the exact same distance away from each other. Each got brighter as they approached the ground. Jack squinted at it while he tried to make out what it was, he noticed a black silhouette behind it.
"Jack... Jack it's coming this way!" Carol panicked. "We should get out of-"
The contraption in the mines exploded, it cracked like a thunderbolt. Jack felt a wave of force push against his back, lifting his feet off the ground. The trees in front of him were smothered with bright green light. 'Ah!' The force threw them several meters forward. Jack's body spun through the air. He hit the ground and rolled onto his front, curling up into a ball and shielding his head.
After a few seconds, he heard rocks thumping against the ground. A field of smoke rose out of the mines, he couldn't even see the entrance behind it. His ears rang from the explosion. Carol struggled to her feet, then glanced between Jack and the smoke. She jumped up and down repeatedly, yelling something out loud. The pillar of dusty smoke drifted into the sky. As the ringing stopped, Jack heard Carol's voice.
"Jack! Jack! It worked!" Carol jumped up and down.
Jack pushed himself off the ground with his elbows, his shoulders and back ached from the fall. He glanced back up toward the lights from earlier and didn't expect to see that they'd approached much closer. A blue object flew high over the forest. Two of the white lights from earlier came from the front of the object. The right side of it collided with the mountain and spun off course. Boulders and shards of rock flew behind the mountain. Carol and Jack crouched out of fear. Chunks of rock rolled down the mountain. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, but they both flinched as a crash came from the other side of the mountain. The ground rumbled beneath them, Jack cowered, but Carol's eyes were fixed on the broken piece of the mountain.
"What was that?!" Jack shouted in fear. "Hey Carol, we should head back to Logos!"
"What if... This is our Celestial gift," Carol asked.
"But a non-unified can't get a gift, we're cursed?"
Carol looked down for a moment. She gulped, then quickly ran past the entrance. She followed the path along the side of the mountain.
"Carol- wait!" Jack called as he hurried after her.
"Are you not curious about that? And wasn't it you who just said we should leave?" Carol asked.
"Well... I..." Jack stuttered as his legs continued to shake.
"Go home if you're scared, I'll tell you what I find!" Carol shouted back.
'Damnit... What if it's dangerous, we have no idea what that thing was?! I'm not going, no way...' Jack turned and started back to Logos. 'Why am I scared... Didn't I come here to get revenge... I knew this would be dangerous! Stop wimping out!' Jack smacked his own head, then considered Carol's words.
"What if it is our gift..." Jack considered it for a moment.
He gulped, then turned and chased after Carol, following the path for several minutes. He reached the end of the forest at the south side of the mines. Carol was up ahead, but her figure slowly faded into the dark thicket of Roverswood, an even larger forest to the north of the mines. 'I've never been to this side of the mines...' Jack glanced over to the left and was met with scenery he wasn't familiar with.
"Woah," Jack whispered.
Beyond the river, were skinny mountains shrouded in dense forests and clouds. To the left of those were wide plains of grass and hills. In front of the river, lights shone within the town of Ulkay at the bottom of the hill. He turned and looked at the mountain behind him. It seemed massive from so close, but it was nothing compared to the mountains beyond the river. Jack continued to gaze at it while he walked, until he passed under the trees of Roverswood.
There were massive pieces of rock scattered around, and several trees had fallen or broken down. Clouds of dust and smoke drifted in the air from the recent impacts. As he ran through the forest, he eventually reached a large boulder that broke off the mountain. The smell of burned wood lingered in the air. 'Is something on fire?' Jack noticed a pair of footsteps in the mud, he followed them around the boulder. 'Carol went this way too...' As he passed a few more trees, he noticed a clearing up ahead.
Jack's stomach sank at the sight of the destruction. Trees had been torn from the ground or broken. Chips of wood, branches, and roots were scattered all over the place. Jack noticed Carol in the distance, she was standing in a divot of dirt, made by the flying object that just crashed. The blue exterior of it was covered in mud.
"Is it alive?" Jack asked as he approached.
"I'm... I'm not sure..." Carol leaned forward to touch it.
"Wait don't-"
She dragged her fingers against it, wiping some of the mud off and revealing more of the blue surface. Jack was hesitant, he reached forward and did the same. The hard surface was warm, Jack dragged his hand along it, puzzled by its smoothness. He wiped the mud off, revealing a white letter.
"Hey Carol, there's a letter here," Jack wiped the wet mud off the ship until he could see the entire text. "#78...MC... Imperial- dragon? No, dragoon?"
"What does that mean?" Carol squinted.
"Do you think it's this things name? But what name starts with a number?" Jack pondered as he walked around the large object.
"I don't... Think so? This must be a gift... I've never seen anything like it before," Carol wondered as she walked around the opposite way. "Hey Jack, come look at this!"
Jack ran to the front. Carol was crouched in front of one of the white lights they had seen earlier. 'Are those... Eyes?' Carol put her face right up to the light. On the top of the thing's face, a red light was glowing.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Jack asked as Carol squinted into the bright light.
"No, it doesn't hurt, it's not even hot either... But it's brighter than any fire I've seen," Carol analyzed.
Jack hovered his hand over the light. 'Huh... It really isn't that hot... But how could it make this much light without a fire? Wait is this glass?' He scanned every crevice of the object, walking around its body. There was a flat slab of metal jutting out of one side of the object. Jack noticed that the flat slab was connected to the top, but by large bolts he'd never seen before.
"It... It has bolts and screws... Did someone build this?" Jack asked.
As Jack approached the back of the object, he noticed a shiny red sphere sticking out of it. Jack twisted the sphere, but it didn't move. As he tried a bit harder, he felt the lever move vertically. He tilted his head, and then pulled it down. The object started to release steam. 'Woah!' The back of the object opened, a grinding sound came from the moving parts. Jack gasped, fleeing without a second thought and hiding behind a fallen tree.
"Jack! What was that?!" Carol called nervously as she stuck her head out from the front of the object.
"Carol it's moving!" Jack shouted.
Carol ran around to the back side, she slowed down toward the opening, peeking inside before she suddenly froze. 'What is she doing?!' Jack's heart pounded rapidly. Carol stood still for a few seconds, she leaned forward to get a better view. 'Huh?' Despite shaking nervously, she walked inside slowly.
"Carol, wait! That might be its mouth!" Jack cried.
"Jack come here! Quickly!" Carol called, she sounded worried.
Jack poked his head out and crept closer to the opening. He kept a distance and walked around to get a better angle of the inside. Jack didn't recognize anything he was looking at. Carol was inside, her back toward him. She was completely still, staring at something inside. Jack stepped into the strange interior, the floor was solid metal, there were seats on the left and right sides. Jack looked around with a puzzled expression, then peeked over Carol's shoulder. 'Huh...'
There was an abnormally large man unconscious in the narrow hallway. He had to have been at least eight feet tall, with a body shaped by muscles, and dense black hair reaching past his neck. All he wore was tattered black pants. Blood was splattered everywhere, however, each stain had dark purple crystals on top of them. Each gem had a bright purple light inside it, Jack couldn't look away.
"I knew it, this is the mouth! We should go, or else we'll end up like him!" Jack advised, but she didn't listen.
"The blood is dry... But these wounds... He's been burned, cut, and stabbed all over... This is- bad..." Carol shuddered before she placed her finger on his neck. "Wait... He's breathing! This guy's still alive... How!?"
Silence filled the air as Jack tried to process that. He looked down at the crystals that seemed to come out of the dried blood. He tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to the ground. With a bit of force, he plucked the crystal off. 'It's like it grew out of the metal... Or did it grow out of the blood?'
"What is this stuff?" Jack whispered as he analyzed the purple gem.
It had a bit of weight to it, and was incredibly dense. It's vivid purple hue mesmerized Jack. He plucked two more off the wall and observed them in both hands. Each crystal was different, but they seemed to stretch in six different directions from where they sprouted.
"Hey, wake up! Hey!" Carol shouted. "Jack, what the hell? Give me a hand this guy needs help!"
"Uh- Yeah!" Jack put the crystals in his pocket, then hurried over.
He carefully stepped over the rugged crystals, briefly looking through a window in the wall. 'A door?' There was a bed and a table in the much cleaner room, but Jack ignored it as he crouched down. Carol lifted the man's left arm over her shoulder, Jack took the other side. The two stood up, lifting the mysterious person. Jack clenched his teeth. It felt like lifting a wagon full of logorite.
"Rgh! He's like two hundred pounds?!" Jack struggled.
"Yeah- I noticed!" Carol shuddered.
The man was just as heavy as he looked, they took small steps and eventually got him outside of the ship. A soft blue hue spread across the sky, the sun was coming up. They dragged him to the edge of the crash site, and slowly made their way through the forest.
"Where are we even gonna take him? The only ones who might be able to fix him are the angels..." Jack huffed.
"Yeah... but. You know how gifts are usually either a tool, a power, or a spirit?" Carol replied.
Jack stopped and looked at her blankly. "No..."
"Oh come on Jack, he literally came from the sky! He really could be our gift!"
"He might have a gift himself... His blood is turning into crystals!"
"I just think, maybe we shouldn't give him to the angels. I mean, doesn't this seem weird to you?" Carol asked between breaths.
"What about this, isn't the weirdest thing, that's ever happened to me?" Jack struggled to speak.
"We have to get back before people wake up, no one can see him, or else they might snitch," Carol added.
They continued through the woods, eventually reaching the entrance of the mines they were at earlier. A pile of rubble blocked the cave. The two of them were already exhausted, both of their chests heaving as they used every ounce of their strength to carry the unconscious body.
"Well, the bomb worked..." Carol pointed out.
"Yeah, little... Victories!" Jack breathed heavily, his neck felt sore.
After a few more minutes, they crossed the forest and reached the farms that surrounded Logos. The two of them let go of the man, dropping him flat on his face. They both fell backward out of breath, huffing repeatedly. Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a crystal he picked up earlier. He held it up to the sky, analyzing the slightly opaque purple gem.
"Hey, can I see that?" Carol asked lazily.
"Yeah... Sure..." Jack stood back up, then tossed it to Carol.
She caught it then turned it over, observing each of its sides. "They looked cool... I'm just wondering why it grew from that guy's blood..."
"Yeah, that's really weird..."
Carol aimed from the ground, then threw it back to Jack with a tired huff. He reached up to catch the stone, but it went too high and over his head, he turned and followed it. As the crystal hit the ground, a strange shattering sound reverberated outward. A purple wave of light smothered the area in a single second, a bright explosion bursting from where it landed. The force pushed all the crops away. 'Huh-' Jack shielded his face from the bright light. His feet left the ground, and he flew a few meters before tumbling onto his back.
"Ah!" Jack cried.
A purple fire remained where the crystal exploded. Jack's ears rang, despite being far from the explosion, the force launched him like a rag doll. He saw two people who both looked like Carol approach, but quickly realized he was seeing doubles. 'What... What just happened...'
"Jack! Jack are you okay!" Carol called.
"No..." Jack muttered as he put his palms against the ground.
"That explosion was way bigger and faster than the one at the cave! Screw the bomb! Let's use this on Alexander!" Carol jumped with excitement.
"Yeah- little victories..." Jack wheezed as he struggled to speak.
'I shouldn't have even brought it...' His coat and shirt were drenched in sweat, rain, dirt and grass. Jack looked back towards the fire, before noticing several orange lights approaching from the town.
"Oh no... Carol the townsfolk, they heard that!" Jack pointed to Logos.
"Ah, shit! We need to move before they see us!" Carol stressed.
Jack got to his feet, limping for a moment as fast as he could to the unconscious man. He crouched down, pulling the mans arm over his neck, and pushing him up with all his strength. Jack's muscles screamed as he grit his teeth. Carol took the first step, Jack struggled to keep pace.
"We'll go around- where should we take him?" Carol huffed.
"If we go around- we can probably- put him in the cellar- of my house!" Jack stuttered.
* * *
Jack and Carol carried him through the farms, past the east entrance of Logos, and reached the house. The civilians gathered at the wheat farms north of the town where the purple flame still burned. The two of them dropped to their knees out of exhaustion. Jack could barely believe they'd made it so far without being seen. 'Almost... Done...'
The shirt drenched in sweat stuck to his skin uncomfortably. Jack opened the coat and felt a satisfying chill as steam drifted off his chest. Beads of sweat splattered on the ground. He took a deep breath as he grabbed the handle to the cellar and lifted it.
"Alright almost there, I got his shoulders, you get his legs," Carol instructed.
Carol took a deep breath and lifted the man under the arms, while Jack held his ankles. The muscles in Jack's arms ached, but the weight felt a bit lighter with Carol's help. She took a step back into the cellar, Jack followed her pace. They carefully carried him down the steps, then sat him upright on the floor against the wall at the back of the cellar.
"Ah... I really wish I slept now..." Carol groaned.
"Heh..." Jack wheezed.
'Ah...' Jack huffed in and out as he shut the cellar door, taking a seat on the stairs to catch his breath. His sweat made the coat he wore significantly hotter. Jack pulled it off and immediately felt relieved as the cold air flooded over him. Carol continued to analyze the mysterious man's body.
"Jack, his wounds... They're healing..." said Carol.
"What?" Jack limped over.
The wounds on his body looked like they were moving, the skin slowly reforming over his flesh. The veins around them glowed a faint purple. Carol moved his long black hair out of the way, the left side of his face was smeared with blood.
Carol wiped some of the blood off. "Clean up his face a bit, and I think he'd be pretty handsome..."
"Well he has explosive crystals coming out of his blood, he came from the sky, and he heals somehow... Hopefully, he's not an angel, or else... I'm probably dead the second he wakes up..." said Jack.
Jack walked closer to the man and analyzed his wounds. On the left side of his abdomen was a terrible scar that was having a much harder time healing. The veins around it were glowing a bright purple. The wound was deep, the surrounding skin was littered with bruises.
"This is hard to look at..." Jack felt his own stomach tingle when he saw the wound. "It looks like someone stabbed him... In the same spot... Multiple times... Whoever did this really hated this guy... No one should be able to survive this."
A single knock at the front door of the house stole their attention. Jack and Carol's heads shot up as they heard another single knock. After a short delay another knock followed, it repeated once more with a much louder hit. Jack's gulp echoed across the silence. 'Huh...'
"This is the noble of House Rael. Open the door at once, or I'll break it down scum," a deep voice filled with vicious intent called from outside. "Come on, I don't have all day, open the door!"
'That's...' Jack grimaced as his heart pounded rapidly. 'He's here?!'
"Carol, Carol what do we do... That's..." Jack turned to Carol and his eyebrows furrowed, her expression was just as terrified as his own. "That's... Alexander Rael!"