Chapter 7

A giant stormed through the thick underbrush, each step shaking the earth upon which it trod and leaving deep, destructive craters in the wet dirt. Clean, cool dewdrops decorated the leaves and the grass in the fresh morning sun, and not a single sound could be heard apart from the booming thuds of a titan’s stomp. As the giant kept a steady pace, it would occasionally graze the side of one of the enormous, old trees in passing, unintentionally ripping out large pieces of their trunks.

Its appearance was strangely difficult to describe, an eerie and incongruous blackness seeming to radiate from it and divert any prying eyes. As if its frame was shrouded in a deep, consuming shadow. The eyes were quite the opposite. Bright and yellow, the vastness of those two piercing points felt endlessly deep, drawing one’s gaze and enveloping the mind.

The giant would have slowed its pace and been more careful in traversing the forest it held so dear, but unfortunately, it had somewhere to be, and it could not wait a single moment longer than absolutely necessary. Despite the twenty-meter tall body, it moved with an astonishing grace and speed, which seemed out of place for such a large build.

The giant kept running for an undetermined amount of time, and soon, when it felt time running out, its form abruptly began to flicker in the rays of light escaping through the canopy above. A curious observer would have thought their own eyes to be deceiving them.

In the blink of an eye, the titan was gone, replaced by another behemoth. This time the colossus took the shape of a powerful, agile cat, the surface of its body rippling with hard muscle. The eerie darkness, however, still covered its form, making it near impossible to make out any real detail.

In its new body it put on a burst of speed, tearing through the landscape with extreme speed and covering great distances in single leaps as its surroundings became nothing but a green blur.

With a sudden twist of its body, the monster dug all four paws into the earth, crashing through everything in its path before coming to a stop, ruination all around. The behemoth payed it no mind, as it had reached its destination, at last.

It was standing in a seemingly nondescript clearing in the lush forest, scanning the area carefully as if looking for something important it had lost long ago. Upon first glance, there was nothing there. A simple mistake, perhaps?

No, upon closer inspection, a small figure lay supine on the forest floor, almost completely covered by vegetation. The behemoth sniffed the figure curiously before nudging it with its muzzle in an attempt to rouse it from slumber. The figure was a boy with long brown hair and many scars.

Raiel opened his eyes, fully awake and aware, but disoriented. He sat up abruptly, looking around to find out where he was. He immediately knew he was in Raha. He could feel it. The smell, the feeling, the sounds, the environment. There was not a doubt in his mind. But how was he back? Hadn’t he just gone to sleep in a hospital bed? He couldn’t quite wrap his head around all of it having been nothing but a dream, but it was one possibility. Albeit a strange one. Raiel didn’t recognize the area, but he knew he could settle pretty quickly if he had to. He just hoped that none of the bigger predators, which he had always avoided, lived in these parts.

That hope was quickly extinguished when he turned around to face the largest beast he had ever seen. Probably more than fifty times his size, and towering over him to such a degree, that, by his guess, he would need at least seven or eight clones of himself to stand on top of, if he wanted to look the colossus in the eye.

It studied him silently, making no move to devour him whole as he had fully expected it to have done by now. It uttered not a sound, except for the occasional huffing exhalation. Raiel kept an eye on the beast as he slowly started to back away, hope rekindling itself in his chest at the chance to escape. He accidentally stepped on a twig on the ground and froze instantly when he heard it break in two under his weight, a deafening echo resounding in the clearing.

No reaction. The great cat held its position. So immobile was it, that Raiel would have thought it to be either dead or a statue, if not for the audible breathing. Then it tilted its head to the side, observing him closely, looking unsure of how to proceed. It took one great step towards the boy, whose legs felt as though they were buried up to the knees in the ground. He couldn’t move a muscle in the face of such a being, unfathomable in all aspects.

“I am…awake.”

Raiel’s mouth fell open. The voice of the beast was a deep rumble, which seemed to come from all directions, both so quiet that he wasn’t sure it had even spoken, but also so loud that he thought his eardrums might burst. The sound didn’t come from the beast. Or, it did, but not from its throat. It was like the words had been sent directly into his head. It was surreal, to say the least.

“Hmm… Perhaps…” The beast seemed to think, as its shape began to change. The hind legs elongated while the forelegs slimmed, and paws grew into human hands with fingers. As the change happened, the being stood up on two distinctly human legs. Even taller now, the titanic man, bathed in shadows, gazed down upon the boy. It opened its mouth, as if to speak, but no sound came. For a long moment, none of them said a thing, one of them too terrified to even move, the other mouthing voiceless words and trying its best to speak. Finally, a sound escaped from the giant’s throat, an ancient and distant rumble, like grinding boulders.

Having found its voice, it put its thoughts into words, “I am…here… I am…present…as I should be.” It spoke slowly, letting the words stretch. Its words didn’t make sense.

“W-who are you?” Raiel’s voice trembled and he struggled to keep himself from turning around to flee.

“Who I am…I know not… It is…forgotten… My being is…broken…incomplete…” Although the swirling darkness made seeing its face difficult, Raiel noticed a distress in its voice. An aching uncertainty.

“Why are you here?” He asked, gaining confidence that he would not be slaughtered.

“I am…here…for you… To…aid you…” it stated wearily.

“Aid me? Aid me in what?” Raiel asked.

It stood still for a moment, lost in thought. “I…am not certain…” it answered, “I…am compelled…to be here…by your side…”

“But—,” Raiel began, but was interrupted.

“Time…runs out…” uttered the giant, as it reached out and touched an enormous fingertip to Raiel’s chest. It set his heart racing, and he could hear the blood pumping through his veins clearly. With it, the blood brought a familiar sensation. A familiar power. However, instead of being the untamed tempest he was used to, it felt like a calm lake with a crystalline, undisturbed surface.

“Remember…control…” it finished, keeping its finger on his chest.

Raiel’s mind was as if in a trance, and before he knew it, a blackness was creeping into his vision and his body fell backwards into nothingness. He fell and he fell, but still he saw the giant, and still he felt its finger on his heart.

“What’s your name?” he managed to scream. No answer came, and soon all was black.

Raiel jolted awake, breathless and sweating profusely. He was in bed in the hospital. He had a vague recollection of a dream he had had. In his mind, he saw the silhouette of a man towering over him, but the image was rapidly fading from his thoughts, and no matter how he fought to hold it fast in his head, it only grew dimmer.

As he lay there, trying to hold onto the memory, he realized that he no longer recalled what he was trying to remember. It had passed, and he was left with nothing but a gut feeling that what had been forgotten had been important.

A rustle caught his attention and he noticed Maldr sitting up in bed, his feet dangling on the floor.

Raiel watched as the man he had saved yesterday attempted to stand up with a grunt and a facial expression that betrayed great agony. He just barely got off the bed before he fell back down, hissing through clenched teeth as the sudden movement sent jabs of pain through his torso. A series of quiet curses sounded, making Raiel wonder what they could mean.

Raiel continued to watch while Maldr tried a few more times, before giving up completely. Raiel got up, put on the folded robe by his bed and went to the sink to get some water when Maldr’s dry voice caught his attention.

“Water, please.” he croaked, as he held out a trembling hand.

He silently filled another glass and handed it to Maldr, who grasped it with visible strenuosity. It was difficult to feel much empathy for the hunter’s situation. He had most certainly had ample warning and had recklessly chosen to ignore it, even letting his irritation carry him to even greater carelessness. And he was supposed to be an expert. Hopefully, he had at least learned from his mistakes.

“You know,” Raiel began, “what you did was stupid. You put us both in danger.” He hadn’t planned on rebuking the older man, but the words seemed to have a will of their own.

Head downcast, the hunter grumbled something akin to a shameful response, refusing to meet Raiel’s piercing gaze. When he did look up, his eyes darted around the room in search of anything else to look at, and he appeared to be trying to think of something to say. “How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“How did you know that bear would be there?” Maldr asked intensely. “It was resting when I came upon it – not making a sound.”

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I get. It could have been a smell, or it could have been the rustling of a bush.” Raiel answered uncertainly. Now that he had to, he found himself unable to properly explain what it was and how he had known.

Maldr frowned, clearly not willing to accept the answer, but simply hmphed and continued. “Then, how did you get rid of it? The bear, I mean.”

“Poked its eyes out.” Raiel stated flatly.

“You po—… You poked its eyes out?” Maldr asked hesitantly, seemingly unable to comprehend it.

“Yes.” Raiel confirmed with a shrug of his shoulders.

“But… how?”

“It was on its back after I threw it. Made sense at the time.” Raiel said.

“You… threw it…” Again, Maldr was taken aback by the incredibility of it, and the frankness with which the boy told it. Did this little kid think he was an idiot? Anger welled up in the man, and if his wound hadn’t been so painful, he would probably have expressed his annoyance at being told such a blatant lie a little more clearly. But, exhaustion won in the end, and he just let his head fall back onto the pillow, a great sigh escaping him.

Seeing the dismissive silence, Raiel left the room to find something to eat. If he could get out of this conversation, which he had inadvertently initiated, he would be more than happy to comply.

Since it was still quite early in the morning, the hospital was not quite as crowded as the day before, but it was still many more people than Raiel preferred to be around. Compared to yesterday, he had more time to look around, and strolled down the hallway at a leisurely pace, occasionally glancing curiously into the rooms he passed. Many of the patients still slept, comfortably tucked into their soft, clean blankets.

In the hall, he met an old lady, who was nice enough to point him in the direction of the dining hall. He passed the reception desk and continued to the opposite side of the building, which was almost identical to the side he’d resided in.

He walked to the counter, where a large woman handed him a tray with various hot foods she had scooped from four large containers in front of her. It struck him, that he had no money to pay for the meal, like he’d seen it done many times before in the market outside his cell. After a nervous question, he was assured that patients ate for free, and he took the tray to a table and sat down to eat. He was pleasantly surprised to find meat included in the meal and gorged himself on the delicious food.

“At least use a knife and fork!” A stern voice from behind made him jump in surprise.

He turned around in his seat, fingers sticky with mashed potatoes and gravy, and saw the same woman who had given him the food holding out two pieces of metal for him to take.

“Fork?” He knew what a knife was, but in a wholly different capability than for eating. He couldn’t imagine how eating and killing were correlated. She sat down next to him and grabbed his plate and placed it in front of herself on the table, spearing his roasted pork with the fork and cutting it with the knife in a fluid motion.

“I can’t believe I have to teach this to a boy your age. Your parents should have brought you up better than that!” she muttered disdainfully, mostly to herself, it seemed. Raiel considered answering, but she had already slid his plate back to him.

“I won’t see such shameful display in my kitchen!” she scolded as she stomped away, leaving the boy speechless. He looked at the utensils in his hand and wondered why this, of all things, was so important. He experimentally pierced the meat with the four-pronged fork and tried to saw through it with the slightly serrated knife. He clearly didn’t have the coordination for it, as his knife hand went all over the place, resulting in an ugly, messy piece of meat on the fork. This was certainly one of the dumber inventions the humans had come up with. Completely pointless, really.

He glanced back towards the kitchen counter, and used his hands to stuff as much food into his mouth as he could when the angry lady wasn’t looking.

He returned to his room after finishing his meal, stomach filled to satisfaction. In the room, Maldr had gone back to sleep in the same position as Raiel had left him in, and just as Raiel was about to climb into his own bed to do the same, a bearded man strode into the room, looking around. When he spotted Raiel, he headed straight for the boy with a determined march.

“Raiel?” the man asked without batting an eye.

“… Yes?” Raiel answered questioningly.

“On orders of Battle Chief Tali Avalise, I am to take you to the College.” he said formally.

“Ah, uuh… Can I put on my clothes first?” Raiel asked, unsure of the proper manner with which to speak to this no-nonsense man.

“Certainly.” The man said and stood unmoving, waiting as Raiel slipped into yesterday’s clothes. Seeing a large part of one sleeve missing, Raiel recalled the bloody battle. The bloodlust he had felt had been stronger than ever before. Maybe his time in the cell, where the need for ruthlessness and bloodshed hadn’t been called for, had caused it to build up inside him, only to come rushing out with even more strength when the chance appeared. It scared him to think about how close he had come to losing control, to giving in to fury. If he was to live among other humans, he would have to, at least to some degree, be able to control his own emotions when it mattered the most.

After dressing, Raiel followed the expressionless man out of the room and out of the hospital, where a carriage waited for them. The carriage was open, with no roof and two benches facing each other. The man climbed onto the driver’s seat and motioned for Raiel to get in behind him.

They set off, the horses going into a fast trot as they quickly passed busy people, various food stalls, and children playing gleefully in the street. Occasionally, when they encountered other carriages, they would be forced to slow their pace a bit so as to not collide with each other. Raiel observed the impressive control with which the coachmen directed their horses to maneuver narrow spaces.

He was intrigued and taken aback by the humans’ effective enslavement of some animal species. It was very convenient, but he had mixed feelings about the blatant exploitation of creatures of lesser intelligence. To be fair, the animals seemed to suffer no harm, and didn’t seem too bothered by their situation. Perhaps it required a certain degree of sentience, which they did not possess, to be unhappy with such things. Maybe, so long as they ate food, had company, were healthy, and got exercise, concepts such as freedom were secondary in their minds.

His mind drifted to the wolf pup. He wondered where she was and how she was doing. Tali had promised that the pup was okay and cared for, so there was that. And for what it’s worth, Tali didn’t strike him as the kind of person to tell a blatant lie. She seemed more like the type who said whatever she thought with frankness, and if you didn’t like it, then she couldn’t care less.

He wondered how he could prove his worth and be allowed to see the pup again. It had been so long, that it almost felt like it had been a different life before he came to the city. And maybe it had been that, in a way. It infuriated him to be so powerless as to have no way of reuniting with her, apart from vying for the mercy of a deranged and sadistic woman with the will and power to beat him senseless on a whim.

For now, there wasn’t much to be done about it, but he would definitely bring it up with her the next time they spoke.

He leaned back in his seat, gazing out at the bustling city from his elevated position as it rushed by. “What a nice way to travel.” Raiel mused absentmindedly, absorbing the changing scenery with satisfaction.

They passed the city gate and suddenly their surroundings changed to rolling hills and small lakes, spread widely across the plains. Further away, humongous mountain tops and Raha forest enclosed it all in an enveloping circle.

The trip continued in silence, his escort remaining focused on the road, only opening his mouth a few times to yell the horses to order.

As they came to the woodland edge, the carriage gradually slowed. Raiel looked past the man to the road in front of them, but there was nothing there to warrant a stop. Eventually, they came to a complete stop, just before they would have entered the forest.

“What’s going on?” Raiel asked, puzzled.

“This is as far as I am to take you. You will walk the remaining distance on your own two feet.” The man stated flatly.

“… Okay, but I don’t know the way.” Raiel clarified.

The man glanced back at Raiel from the driver’s seat. “There’s a trail leading to the campus just through the trees.” the escort reassured him, “It’s a tradition, that students, especially new students, make the trek on their own.”

Raiel squinted and tried to peer through the tree line, but he couldn’t see the road in question.

“I can’t see a road.” he commented

“That’s because I said ‘trail’, not ‘road’. It’s narrow and sometimes difficult to see. We wouldn’t have been able to take the carriage through, even if I wanted to. Now,” he said with slight irritation, and grabbed Raiel’s backpack from the floor of the carriage, throwing it to the boy. “better get going. They’re expecting you soon.”

“Oh!” Raiel exclaimed and caught the backpack with his hands and his face. “Th-thanks. What are you—…” he trailed off as he saw the man already in his seat again, not paying the boy any attention while he directed the horses to return the way they had come.

Raiel watched as the carriage rolled away, leaving him alone. He stood silent for a moment, a little stunned by the strange turn of events.

He could leave if he wanted to, he realized. He could leave it all behind and go back. Like the time with Maldr, he only considered it briefly before casting the thought aside. Someone was depending on him, and he couldn’t leave his dear friend to her fate. There was no telling what Tali and her henchmen would do to the poor pup if he were to suddenly disappear without a trace.

Perish the thought!

He marched resolutely through the trees, searching for the promised trail. It turned out to be easy to find. Furthermore, the unmistakable stench of sweaty humans still hung in the air. Such scents of animals could remain for days if the area was frequented often enough or one had a good nose, which Raiel did. Immediately, the road ahead steepened, rocks and roots protruding from the earth, daring anyone to slip and fall on them.

The journey was, like the carriage ride, uneventful. He loved the forest dearly, and the walk brought him great comfort and soothed his worried heart. Even if he did not intend to run away, it still reassured him to know that he had the option.

It took him a good hour and a half of following the trail before he began to be able to glimpse manmade structures in the distance. It looked like a large place. Like another city, really. Unlike the city, however, there was no wall. Instead of the efficiently built small houses crammed together to accommodate as many people as possible, the buildings here were extravagant-looking and large. Naturally, there were smaller buildings here and there, but it wasn’t the cluster of the city. Some of the structures stretched far into the sky, ending in impressive spires many stories above the ground.

Just as he was about to set off towards the campus, a voice called out to him from behind.

“Hey, you! Wait up!” A group of three boys came running up to him. They looked to be a little older than him. Maybe by two or three years. They were dressed in fine, clean, and expensive-looking clothes.

“Haven’t seen you around here before.” said one of the boys as they reached him. He was taller than Raiel, but not by much. His hair was thick, blonde, and slicked back from his face. The two others both had long, brown hair, and looked strikingly similar. Almost identical to the point where it unsettled Raiel.

“Are you a new student?” he asked with a charming smile.

“Ah, yes.” Raiel said nervously. If he wanted to make friends, he might as well start right away. “Are you three students here?”

“Aye, we are. I’m Clavic Maledes, son of Duke Thor Maledes. My friends are Hector and Duhen Huntley, sons of Earl Makael Huntley.” he gestured to the two boys behind him, who nodded in greeting without saying anything. He grinned. “They don’t talk much, as you can see. So, what’s your name?” he asked inquisitively.

“I’m Raiel. Nice to meet you.” he replied, trying his best to give the same charming smile that Clavic had done, and failing. Having close to no experience with facial expressions, it felt more like a toothy snarl, rather than a friendly smile. The three boys either did not notice, or they were polite enough not to show it.

Clavic looked at him with raised eyebrows, waiting for him to continue. “That’s it? What family do you belong to?” he asked, a bemused expression on his face.

“Family? I don’t have one. I think my parents are dead.” He said hesitantly.

Clavic hammered a fist into his palm in realization. “Ahaa, I see. Sorry to have bothered you, then. Maybe we’ll see each other around, eh?” He said with a wink.

Raiel didn’t quite understand what was going on, but he did understand that the conversation seemed to have come to an abrupt end. The three boys stepped aside to let him pass, and he excused himself as he walked past them, feeling glum at having missed his chance to make friends. He took a few steps before Clavic called out again from behind him.

“What, you thought we’d let a fuckin’ commoner waltz in here without teaching him a little lesson first?”

When Raiel stopped to turn back and ask what they meant, a blinding pain exploded behind his ear and he fell to the ground in a daze. He tried to look up, but was met with another blast of pain, this time squarely on the top of his head. Tears welled up in his eyes uncontrollably from the hit, and his head swam. He feared he would vomit and pass out, not necessarily in that order, and he rolled onto his back, coming eye to eye with the three boys, all carrying tree branches.

Clavic placed a booted foot on Raiel’s chest, putting a bit of his weight behind it to hold the younger boy down. “Well,” he said with a sneer as he tapped the end of the branch on Raiel’s cheek. “how about we throw a welcome party for our new student before you go any further?”