A Bond in the Dark

Chapter Seven

Chapter 7

(Ryan)

He experienced a wave of excruciating pain and then...nothing. He'd "died" plenty of times in the past—it wasn't something that really fazed him anymore. More than anything, he hated the inconvenience of it all.

The first time it had happened, it was at his father's hand. Memories played in his mind like shadows on a cave wall...

He rose out of the mud, a perfect blank slate.

The air, the sun, the earth beneath him were all so strange and new.

"I have given you life," the rumbling voice said in his head.

In front of him sat his father—the golem was larger than himself, his stocky, powerful form loomed over him, blocking out the light.

He noticed the strange pattern on his father's forehead and reached out a trembling hand.

His father stopped him—"It is the mark of my imprisonment," he said bitterly.

Ryan remembered frowning at the words—he understood little, but if this being had created him, he did not wish for him to be unhappy.

"I—I don't understand." His first words.

"You will," the voice had said.

In the coming months, his father had tested him—all tests that he failed. Once his father had realized that he had failed to produce a creation true to his vision, he had thrown Ryan into a boulder, unconcerned with the consequences.

When he resurrected shortly after, his father had been pleasantly surprised. He may not have inherited all of his father's abilities, and he lacked the capability to continue his genetic line, but his immortality was something. It meant he would be a useful asset in his father's mission.

At least that is what he had been told.

He even believed it for a time

Times change.

When he awoke this time, he was laying disoriented on the forest floor. His neck and arm were set at uncomfortable angles, so he popped them back into place.

That's better.

He could hear a nearby conflict between what sounded like wild animals. The sounds were savage—whatever was nearby was clearly fighting to the death.

He opened his eyes and found the world still blurry as his eyes readjusted—he could make out two creatures locked in a violent struggle several yards away.

His memories came rushing back—the Uncegila!

The giant serpent was currently thrashing its massive tail at its much smaller foe—a particularly ferocious looking white wolf.

The wolf wasn't backing down and easily dodged the monster's attempts to crush it. It was agile as it leapt from rock to rock along the river bank, snapping its mighty jaws at the creature's flesh.

He looked around for Hope, noting her clothes were still in a pile under the trees. He feared the worst—the Uncegila couldn't be harmed by magic. She may have been able to freeze the water around it, but only a strike to the vulnerable spot on its neck could truly harm the beast.

He needed to find Hope now and leave while the monster was distracted.

As he stood up, he felt something around his neck. He looked down to see Hope's pendant, the one she always fiddled with when she was nervous or thinking.